The Edges of Shadows and Memories
by FreakOTU
Summary: A mysterious person arrives in Meridiana. Why did she come here? Extremely descriptive violence from part 15 onwards. Please RR
1. Arrival...

The plane had just finished rolling to a stop at the terminal, and many of the passengers were  
disembarking in the usual mad rush to get off the 'flying deathbox' as someone had put it so mildly.  
After five minutes (a new record!), most of the plane was empty, and a young woman sitting in the  
back row stood up and collected her carryons: one was a large duffel bag, and the other appeared to  
be a long map case. As she walked down the aisle, she flipped open a small compact to look at  
herself.  
"Heh. Not bad for being stuck in this crate for 20 hours. I look almost human." flipping the  
compact closed, and putting it in a pocket in her carpenter pants, she then covered the right side of  
her face with her long, dark red hair and an old baseball cap. Then she walked into the main terminal  
of Meridiana International Airport (closed at least once a week from bombings!). "Miss D'Arnise?"  
The woman turned at the sound of the name and saw a customs officer walk over to her when she  
nodded.  
"We apologize about the lack of service on that carrier, but many of the stewards were out  
sick today. But I digress: when the plane's metal detectors scanned the interior, there seemed to be  
a large amount of metals in your carryons and on you. This is standard procedure, but we need to  
search your bags and ask you several questions." She looked at the man, who was obviously having  
trouble keeping his eyes on her face and smiled. "Alright. Lead the way, sir." The officer, after  
leading her into a cubicle sat down on one of the two chairs in the room. "Okay. First, the questions:  
What is your full name?" "My full name is Sara D'Arnise." "Um... okay. What's your age?"  
  
Two Hours Later   
  
*Gah! If I knew that they'd ask every question humanly possible I would have taken a train.  
Hell, the next time I go travelling, that's what I'll do. Well, at least they shut up when examining my  
passport. If they hadn't I would have probably fed them their teeth.* Sara stomped down the hallway  
to where the officers had put her motorcycle. The monstrous cycle was leaning against a wall with  
two large saddlebags placed beside it. She quickly examined the bags and the bike for traces of  
tampering, but finding none, she quickly stuffed the contents of her duffel into the saddlebags, put  
them on her bike, and relaxed slightly.  
In under a minute, Sara rode out of the parking lot with her bike producing a creditable  
imitation of a buzzsaw in labour for sheer noise and coronary inducements. Riding into Meridiana  
proper, Sara felt how cold it was, cursed for a few seconds, and pulled over so she could get  
something out of the bags. Soon, she dug a long, black leather trenchcoat with silver studs in the  
shoulders out of one bag, and put it on. About ten minutes after she got her coat, Sara drove up to  
a respected real estate firm and walked in like she owned the place. After five minutes of almost  
unintelligible shouting heard in the building, Sara walked out with the deed to a rather nice townhouse  
near the city park.  
20 minutes later, Sara arrived at her new house and she looked around at the semi-peaceful  
neighbourhood. "Hmmph. Well, I guess my bike isn't gonna be left on the curb for some time. Well,  
at least Meridiana has some free time before meeting me." bringing the bike into the garage, Sara  
grinned as she looked around the cavernous space. "Nice. I think I'll explore my new home before  
somebody gets the bright idea of throwing me a welcome party." *I still need to make sure that my  
contractor got everything right. Last time was a fiasco outta hell!*  
Half an hour after her personal tour, Sara was lounging on the huge couch while flipping  
through her 200+ channels on the TV, when a news article stopped her cold. Though it was only some  
fluff to cover a slow news day, Sara was rivetted. "In further news, sightings of large, green-skinned  
men have gone up almost 500%, making many people believe that the city's resident protector,  
CyberSix, is dead, wounded, or has just packed up and left town. Now, we go over to Jim at  
weather..."  
Sara turned off the TV and grimaced when the implications of the report slogged its way  
through her sleep-clouded brain. *What the hell?! Greenskins? Here? Goddamned Fucking Hell! Still,  
I have to wonder who this CyberSix is. Maybe I'll be able to meet him or her. Wait. Several months  
ago I saw a news report on this CyberSix, stating that she's definitely a woman. Aaah screw it. All  
this thinking is gonna make my head hurt. May as well take a walk for some fresh air.* after pulling  
on her hiking boots, and putting on her coat, she walked out onto her front porch and looked at the  
huge statue in the middle of the park. Locking her door, Sara looked south at the rows of houses and  
thought for a while. *May as well go North. Most people are asleep at 1 AM.*  
Walking northwards, she soon saw that a convenience store was open, and when her stomach  
snarled its displeasure at not being fed anything except the toxic waste called airline food, she walked  
inside. Looking around, she immediately thought of Murphy's Law when she saw a huge greenskin  
threatening to squeeze the clerk's head through the keyhole of the back door if he didn't open up the  
register. As soon as the greenskin heard the door's bell however, he spun around while dropping the  
clerk behind the counter. Sara saw that it was covered with scars, and when its dim red eyes settled  
on her she knew she was screwed.  
The greenskin's dim mind tried to associate Sara with anyone else it knew, but when it saw  
the scars on her right cheek it shouted loudly enough to rattle the shelves. "YOU!!! LONG TIME  
AGO, YOU KILLED BROTHER!!! NOW ME KILL YOU!" with his yell echoing in Sara's ears,  
it charged at her through four steel shelves and tried to smash her into paste with his giant fists. When  
he reached her however, she dropped down onto her back and nailed him with a stop-kick to the  
stomach. As it doubled over, trying to regain its breath, Sara got back up and booted it in the face.  
Dark greenish-red blood sprayed everywhere from its nose and mouth as Sara heard bone  
crack, while watching a tooth spiral off into a corner of the store. "Had enough yet?" she asked,  
smiling sweetly. The greenskin replied by tackling her through the large plate glass window behind  
her. A rain of glass shards washed over the road, but none were where Sara landed. Crying out in  
pain when the greenskin landed on her, Sara knew her right elbow had been dislocated but punched  
the large thing in the face repeatedly until it reeled back in agony. Sara knew she had to end the fight  
quickly, so she ran towards the greenskin as it was straightening up, jumped over its shoulder as she  
wrapped her good arm around its neck. When she landed, she knew its spine was stretched to the  
breaking point, and so she kicked it in the small of its back, separating vertebrae and severing its  
spinal cord which sent it into convulsive shock. "The price is WRONG, B'Yatch. You should've quit  
while ahead." with those words, Sara grabbed the greenskin's head and twisted it around, killing it  
instantly.  
Sara stepped back as the greenskin's body disappeared in a flare of green light, leaving only  
its bloody clothes and a small vial of luminescent green goo. Pocketing the vial, Sara walked back  
into the store (by way of her abrupt exit) and instantly got the enjoyment of looking down the barrel  
of a pump-action shotgun. "I-I saw what you did to that thing. What are you? And how the hell did  
that thing know you?" the poor clerk was scared out of his wits, and Sara decided to calm him down  
before he shot her by accident.  
"First, put the gun down. I do not want to be shot by the man whose face I just saved from  
an unpleasant ordeal." The clerk, noticing that Sara was in a fair amount of pain, put the shotgun  
down, but made no move to help her. "Now, first things first, I'm human. Just trained in several nasty  
martial arts. That thing knew me because it participated in an attack on an orphanage several months  
ago. I stopped the attack, but when a grenade exploded I was seriously injured. Now, I need a very  
strong painkiller because I dislocated my elbow during that fight. Oh yeah, before I forget, here's  
$5000 to help defray the cost of repairing your store."  
Sara fished out her wallet and (somehow) got five $1000 bills placed onto the countertop.  
Then, grabbing a bottle of codeine, she popped her elbow back into place, gasped in agony, and  
started to walk out of the store. "Hey, wait a minute! I don't even know your name, or why you  
saved me." Sara paused, looked at the man and replied "You are most definitely not going to know  
my name for at least another few months, and I only did something any good Samaritan would do.  
Bye."  
After leaving, Sara walked back to her house, still in a fair amount of pain, but knowing what  
codeine would do to her brain. She was in a vile mood because of the damage done to her, and it  
became even more volatile when a short rainstorm proceeded to drench her completely. When she  
got home, she saw that the upstairs window was open, and proceeded to curse in several languages  
for a minute or two before entering her house. Looking around, she saw that the TV was on, and she  
heard somebody moving around in there.  
*Great. This is fan-fucking-tastic. First, I get into a fight with Frankenstein's little brother,  
and now I have to deal with an incompetent B&E artist who's as subtle as a dog turd on the  
driveway.* Shaking her head, Sara walked to the door into the living room, leaned against the frame,  
and said "May I help you?", startling the person on the opposite side of the room. As the person  
turned around, Sara noticed the long, flowing cape, the black fedora, the gloves, and the black  
bodysuit.  
"You know, you really should wait before entering my house. Now that the formalities are  
over: WHAT THE BLOODY FUCKING HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE????" Sara  
simply exploded as she swept water out of her hair and took off her trenchcoat (in a rather interesting  
act of motion) simultaneously. Looking at the woman, Sara saw that she was taken aback by the flare  
in her temper, and, at the same time, she noticed a drastic similarity between the woman and  
something she had seen on TV a while ago. Putting two and two together, Sara squinted and said  
"Wait a minute... Aren't you CyberSix?" seeing the woman nod, Sara muttered something along the  
lines of 'sorry for going ballistic at you' and walked into the room proper. Gesturing at a chair near  
the couch, Sara launched herself onto the couch and popped three tablets of codeine while looking  
at CyberSix. "Well, don't you usually sit down when talking to people, or are you going to loom over  
me like a damned totem pole?"  
CyberSix smiled at the statement and shook her head. "I saw what you did to that Fixed Idea,  
and have no wish to get within your reach right now. By the way, you know my name, so why don't  
you tell me yours?" It was Sara's turn to shake her head and watch as CyberSix leaned against the  
window, with no intention of moving towards the offered seat. "Okay, I'll tell you my name, but must  
ask you to at least wait until I'm in before rooting around the top floor." Sara flipped herself into a  
sitting position in the middle of the couch and offered her hand. "Pleased to meetcha CyberSix, I'm  
Sara D'Arnise. And before you become worried, no, I'm not going to beat the crap out of you just  
because I could try. I know you're stronger, faster, and much tougher than me, but like me, you have  
a soft spot for civilians.  
"Now, in my case, I've trained myself to be stronger, faster, and much more agile than most  
people, and I love helping out the underdog. Anything else?" CyberSix, being still nervous, shook  
Sara's hand for only a few seconds, then dropped it like it was poisoned. "Y'know, I think you might  
like one of my friends who lives near the north section of town. Ah well, I'll tell you about him later."  
Sara smiled again, and responded quietly "I'd like that. Anyhow, I'm in a fair amount of agony  
because I had to relocate my elbow after that fight, and I pulled a muscle in my leg when I kicked the  
crap out of Frankenstein Jr. All that and the bonus of being drenched from that storm has turned me  
into the angriest person in existence right now. I'll have to ask you to leave within the next five  
minutes before I zonk out on codeine. Don't forget to close the door on your way out, okay kiddo?"  
"Alright Sara. Just wondering, but how did you know I'm younger than you, and what the  
hell was that fighting style? I've never seen it before." CyberSix had opened the door to the back  
patio and paused while letting in the draft. "I knew that you were younger because it's written all over  
your face, and that style I used is Pentjak Silat. I have to warn you now, you never want to be on the  
receiving end of it, in training or in a fight." Sara grinned and waved as CyberSix left her house, but  
heard "Point taken. I'll try to visit once a week or so." before the door closed.  
*Okay, quick mental check: am I dreaming? (She pinched herself) OW! Guess not. Did  
CyberSix actually pay me a visit just because she saw me whack what she said was a Fixed Idea?  
That's part of the reason, but what about the rest? That reminds me, what the hell was she  
watching?* Turning her attention to the TV, Sara looked on in a mental funk at a show detailing the  
history of English Literature. "Hmmph. A show on the history of English lit? Does she even have a  
life? Too tired... must sleep." Yawning, Sara turned off the TV, retrieved her coat, and walked  
upstairs to her large bed, where she almost instantly crashed, without even bothering to take off her  
boots or shirt.  
  
The Next Day 


	2. Surprised?

Waking up at almost ten, Sara grumbled and swore from the ususal aches and pains that  
coursed through her body, but also muttered vilely about sleeping in her day clothes again. Soon, her  
brain woke up enough to remember the events of last night, and Sara pulled the vial out of her coat  
pocket. Looking at it, she grimaced at the sickly green glow and place it on her nightstand. *Heh,  
because I have no use for this goo, I might as well use it for a night light.* After a quick shower and  
a smallish breakfast, Sara flipped on the news and had to keep from laughing when the channel  
interviewed the guy she had saved last night.  
She had caught the interview just at the beginning, and watched with amusement as the  
reporter listened to the man's story. "At about 1 AM, I thought I was gonna die a horrible, messy  
death. One of those monstrous greenskinned freaks that had been roaming the city walked in and  
threatened to turn me into a blood squishiee unless I opened the cash register. The one thing I really  
noticed about the thing was that it was severely scarred, like it had eaten a grenade for breakfast or  
something like that. I was just about to open the register when someone walked into the store. That  
freak looked at the woman, howled something about killing her and smashed its way straight to her.  
"The thing had dropped me when it saw the woman, and I was getting the shotgun used for  
theft control, so I missed the first part of the fight, but I saw blood splatter everywhere very quickly.  
When I got the gun, I saw it tackle her through the window. In the street, she punched the thing in  
the head at least six times, which stunned it, and then she jumped over its shoulder, broke its back  
as she landed, and then snapped its neck like a dry twig. She then gave me $5000 to help in repairs,  
bought a bottle of pills, and left.  
"I think I gave you copies of the security camera tapes, and that shows everything I just told  
you and in better detail to boot." Sara cracked then, and nearly bust her gut laughing as the reporter  
described in total play-by-play detail the entire fight shown on the silent tape. Turning the TV off,  
Sara walked over to where she had stashed her bags and pulled out a laptop. Turning it on, she  
accessed a job search program through the 'net. In less than ten minutes, she had two good prospects:  
Biology teacher at Meridiana High School, and researcher on osteo-necrosis at the Eugenics Clinics  
downtown.  
E-mailing her resume to both prospects, Sara leaned back, cracked her knuckles, and went  
to check on her bike. Several (greasy, slimy, and oily) hours later, Sara walked out of her garage  
(where her bike was now in several pieces on the floor), and checked her E-mails. Responding to  
Meridiana HS's one with a request to meet the principal on Thursday, she then deleted all the junk  
mail in the inbox (500 messages and only ten have any use! AAAGGHHH!!!) Soon enough, Sara  
noticed that it was almost four in the afternoon, and decided that she was going to take a look around  
the park. Flexing her sore arm, she was rewarded with only a twinge instead of a stabbing ache and  
smiled.  
After a long break at the open caf‚ near the huge statue of the angel for a coffee and donut,  
Sara returned home and put her bike back together. *Hmm. Dammed oil filter, it was so heavily  
clogged I'm surprised my bike didn't die on me yesterday. Ah well, can't win with everything.  
Speaking of such, maybe I should get my specialty equipment out of the basement storage. But, I put  
that part of my life behind me after that debacle 6 months ago. However, I saw just how powerful  
that greenskin was, and it remembered me enough to attack unprovoked. If the others here have high-  
caliber weapons, then I'm definitely gonna have to bring that part of me back into the spotlight.  
Dammit! Why can't all decisions be easy? I would rather be deciding what prank to play on somebody  
than this.*  
"Ahh fucking hell. I guess it's time to resurrect The Daughter. I'm actually feeling glad that  
I had most of my belongings shipped here a few weeks ago." Sara walked over to a small recess in  
the wall near the back door and pushed it in further by an inch or so. The hidden switch opened up  
a small doorway in the floor beside the couch, which Sara climbed down into with no effort.  
Inside the small room underneath the living room, Sara looked around at a sword rack holding  
a long, slim blade with a bat-wing crossguard, a steel table with three stacks of playing card-sized  
objects, and a purplish (bruise-coloured) leotard with a twenty-plus foot long cape connected to the  
shoulders with spiked pauldrons. Also on the table were several newspaper and magazine clippings  
going back almost four years. The clipping on top of the stack literally screamed the headline  
'Daughter of the Knife and Needle: Who is She? Exclusive Interview Inside!'.  
Sara grimaced as she remembered the incident that the 'interview' revolved around. The idiots  
had buzzed her in a helicopter while she was roof-hopping in Kinshasa, so she had to wait for the  
idiots to land. Because she was on a deadline, Sara just EMPd the chopper, and quickly said that  
she'd be back. After getting to her objective and preventing a hideously ugly scene, she returned to  
the chopper in order to talk. Several days later, she was leaving the city in her 'harmless' persona and  
snagged a copy of the newspaper on her way out. When she read it, Sara had the best laugh she had  
in almost 2 years.  
Pulling herself out of memory lane, Sara walked over to the sword and placed her hand on  
the hilt. Looking at the sword, she whispered "Hello Blood-Drinker. Feeling thirsty?", but she left  
the sword on the rack. Going over to the table, she did a quick count of the 'cards' and smiled when  
she was finished. *Perfect. 360 each of the EMP and ChemEx cards. I also have about 30 smokers  
which may be useful.* Turning from the cards, she the walked over to the leotard and cape. Checking  
the cape for rips, tears, or holes took the better part of an hour, but Sara felt better afterwards.  
Turning to the leotard, she also checked it for damage, but after finding none, she removed a small  
subvocalization mike from the collar of it.  
Speaking into the mike, Sara muttered "Activate armour, peacetime mode". As soon as she  
finished speaking, the leotard literally grew arms and legs as the outside produced purplish-black  
scales over the entire body, leaving only the joints unarmoured for ease of motion. Sara nodded and  
relaxed slightly before telling the armour to shut down. While the armour converted itself back to its  
dormant form, Sara went back to her sword. When she removed the blade from its rack, she was  
surprised by the serious lack of weight, despite the fact that the sword was almost as long as she was  
tall.  
Removing it from its scabbard, Sara examined the dull black surface for any nicks, despite the  
utter impossibility of it happening. The only colour in the blade was in the edges as a faint silverish  
glow. "Earth, meet my slashy toy. Slashy toy, meet Earth." Smiling at the utter stupidity of that  
statement, Sara pushed a small button hidden in the crossguard and watched as the blade started to  
hum while changing colour until it was a pulsing white. Spinning around and slicing through the  
nearest table leg, Sara then shut off the blade and replaced it in its scabbard.  
*Well, my stuff survived the disuse with no problems, despite the fact that the sword's power  
cell is almost totally depleted. Guess I'll have to replace or recharge it.* Shrugging slightly, Sara  
removed the power cell in the sword's hilt and climbed back up to the ground floor. She closed the  
panel by pressing the same recess as before. She went upstairs to grab her coat when she saw that it  
was almost 11 PM, and, placing the power cell on the counter in her kitchen on the way out, she  
walked back to the store where she had killed the greenskin the night before. Putting on her ever-  
present baseball cap, Sara noticed that the shattered window had already been covered by a large  
piece of plywood and that the same clerk was there. As she entered the store, she felt a faint shiver  
down her spine, letting her know that someone she couldn't see was watching her. Swearing under  
her breath, she walked over to the clerk and said "So, how's the redecorating going?" At the sound  
of her voice, the clerk looked up from the ledger he was studying and replied "Eh. It's not that bad.  
Because of that windfall you gave me yesterday, I've already offset the costs for repairs for the rest  
of the month. Of course, because of the publicity of you splattering that freak all over the sidewalk  
being caught on video, my revenues have jumped by about 50%. I still need to thank you for saving  
my life though." Sara looked at him cooly and said "Are you sure that you didn't hit your head last  
night? You already thanked me. Anyhow, I have to go."  
Sara walked out of the store before the clerk could respond and started to walk back to her  
house. Just before she passed an alley she heard a rattling blast of gunfire, but stopped in her tracks  
when she heard a woman scream in pain. Sara snarled in anger as the scream faded, and she sprinted  
into the alley. As she turned the corner, Sara saw about 10 greenskins trying to get their hands on  
somebody huddled in a corner of the alley. Looking for anything to help the poor person, Sara  
noticed an exceptionally large greenskin holding a SAW (Squad Assault Weapon / bigass machine  
gun) and she acted.  
Running behind it, Sara quickly disabled the creature by hauling off and booting it between  
the legs so hard it was launched six feet forwards. Picking up the dropped gun, Sara got everything's  
attention by drilling the disabled greenskin through the back with a short burst. Everything in the alley  
paused when they heard the gun fire, and all of them turned to Sara, who was then pointing the gun  
at them. "Now that I have your attention, LEAVE!!! if you don't, I'll make every one of you sound  
like harmonicas on a windy day." Naturally, as soon as she finished speaking, five of the dumber ones  
rushed her.  
BBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPP!! Sara emptied half  
of the magazine into them before they had taken three steps, shredding their heads and upper chests  
into a syrupy mass. As they flared out of existence, Sara looked at the remaining greenskins and  
smiled. "Anyone else want some? I have enough to splatter all of you." The remaining greenskins  
fired their brain cells quickly enough to leave before Sara fired off another blast at their retreating  
forms. "Heh. Suckers. Well, at least the gun's empty." Sara quickly stripped the action out of the gun,  
rendering it useless, before turning to the person who was still in the corner. "Oh my... this is not  
good." the victim was seriously bruised and bleeding from her mouth and leg. Also, Sara knew that  
at least one rib was broken because the woman had difficulty breathing. Sara noticed the bodysuit and  
cape before she saw the crushed hat, and instantly pegged the person's identity: CyberSix.  
"Well, you managed to produce a fair chunk of irony. First you introduce yourself to me  
basically saying that I should be careful, and now I save your ass from being put into a blender set  
on liquify." Sara prodded at CyberSix's injuries, and catalogued them. "Hmm, hairline fracture of the  
skull, possible concussion. Left collarbone broken in two places, need to set bone and keep arm  
immobilized for minimum one week. Compound fracture of left leg, just above the knee. Possible  
gangrene, requires constant antibiotics for at least one week, cleaning the wound, and splinted for at  
least two weeks.  
"Lemme see, what else? Ah. Minimum 4 broken ribs on the left side, possibly 2 more cracked,  
and one may have punctured a lung. Well, because you're so heavily beaten up, you get the  
enjoyment of staying with me for a while." Sara winced in pain and knew she will pay for not seating  
the gun properly before firing, but ignored the aches when she hoisted CyberSix into a sitting  
position. As Sara finished moving CyberSix, she suddenly noticed a flurry of sparks that crawled up  
and down her arm. *What the hell? Wait a minute, her breathing is becoming weaker. Dammit, she's  
gonna die if I don't do something!*  
At that moment, CyberSix opened her eyes and managed to gasp out "Sustenance... in...  
vials... left behind... by Fixed... Ideas." Sara moved to the nearest heap of clothing and grabbed the  
vial hidden in the shredded shirt. When she moved back to CyberSix, Sara saw that she was  
(thankfully) unconscious. Sara popped the top off the vial and waved it in front of CyberSix's nose  
to revive her. "Hey, wake up. It seems this is it." CyberSix woke up enough to nod weakly, and  
grabbing the vial with her good hand, proceeded to drink every drop of it, accidentally cracking the  
back of her head against the stone wall.   
"OW! Dammit! That actually hurt! Okay, how badly hurt am I? I feel like shit." Sara looked  
at CyberSix and said "Well, you look like shit too. Anyhow, you will definitely not be going to your  
day job for at least a week. Your left collarbone is broken in two places, and it's probably twin spiral  
fractures. Four of your ribs are broken, and another two are cracked. It's possible that one has  
punctured a lung, though you would be the better judge of that. Also, your left leg has a compound  
fracture just above the knee that might be gangrenous, but will require cleaning anyhow. Finally, you  
have a hairline fracture along the right side of your skull, and I'm not sure whether or not you have  
a concussion. Anyway, you get to hang around my place for at least until your busted leg has healed."  
Sara saw that CyberSix was utterly confused, and said "Come on, it's only about 2 blocks  
down from here, and you probably won't be able to get home normally, considering your condition."  
Sara paused in her efforts to help CyberSix up when she asked Sara to collect all the vials from the  
rest of the heaps of clothing, and retrieve her hat. Sara grabbed the other five vials, and collected  
CyberSix's hat from where it had landed. Sara then literally hoisted CyberSix up into a standing  
position, and helped support her on the trip to her house.  
When Sara unlocked her door, then opened it, she grimaced in pain when her pummelled ribs  
complained readily at the abuse. Sara ignored the complaints of agony from them as well as from  
CyberSix, and literally dragged the poor woman into the living room. After making CyberSix lie down  
on the couch, Sara looked at the worst damage and did a quick mental tabulation. "Okay, first on the  
list is to re-set your collarbone and your femur, but when I do that you'll feel like somebody is trying  
to put a pneumatic drill through the area. I'll tape your ribs first just so you can relax a bit more, not  
to mention I have enough codeine to put a horse under."  
CyberSix hated the idea of having to deal with even more pain, but knew that if she didn't  
she'd probably be a cripple. As Sara rooted around in some drawers, CyberSix decided to try to speak  
without gasping in agony. "Thanks for the warning. I'll take it to heart before you knock me out. Oh  
yeah, what did you do to those Ideas? I've never seen holes in their clothes before, and am wondering  
what you did." Sara, chuckling at CyberSix's idea of knocking her out, responded as she dug a roll  
of duct tape out of the cupboard under the kitchen sink. "I appropriated one of their military-based  
weapons and perforated those who were too stupid to understand how to leave.  
"Oh, yeah. You'll despise me later because the only tape I found is the handyman's secret  
weapon. I'll have to tape your ribs directly, which means you can't keep your bodysuit on anymore.  
I'm currently looking for something to disinfect and cover your leg wound, and a blanket to cover  
you with." Sara walked back into the living room with the duct tape, a bottle of Jack Daniels, and  
several bandages on top of a large blanket. She saw that CyberSix had already removed her cape and  
gloves, despite the incredible pain it must have inflicted on her. Sara helped the injured woman open  
up her bodysuit to the waist, revealing the horribly bruised and discoloured patch of skin where most  
of her ribs had been smashed. "Ouch. That looks to be the most painful injury I've seen in almost 5  
years. Well, with my medical care, you'll heal rather quickly (I hope)."  
  
Two Hours Later   
  
"Whew. Well, your bones are set in place, your leg's splinted, bandaged, and disinfected,  
thanks to our friend Jack Daniels here, and your ribs and collarbone are also in good condition as  
well." Sara was exhausted, and not only from the physical strain of pulling CyberSix's bones back into  
their normal alignment, but from sheer mental overwork as well. Thankfully, CyberSix was  
unconscious, and would hopefully remain that way for another hour or so. "Hm. I'm not much of a  
drinker, but I don't think that anyone will mind if I take a swig of this bug juice to relax." Sara took  
off her trenchcoat, the nearly dropped herself by having a slug of whiskey that dropped the level in  
the bottle by almost 1/3rd.  
Looking around at the messy living room, Sara decided to clean up as best she could, then  
relaxed for a while as she looked at CyberSix, sleeping peacefully on the couch. *Well, shit. I'll never  
get that bloodstain out of those two cushions for at least two months. Well, at least she's alive and  
looking better that when she first came in. I may as well check my E-mails while I'm waiting for her  
to wake up so I can relocate her to the spare bed.* Checking her mail produced some laughs (Thank  
you, BestofHumour.com.), and a request from Meridiana HS to push the interview back to Friday.  
Sara replied affirmatively to the school's request, and (again) got rid of tons of junk.  
Turning off her laptop, Sara looked at her reflection in the window, and saw that her eyes had  
turned into sunken pits inside her face. She smiled wanly at her reflection, then removed her baseball  
cap. Leaving it beside the sink, she rolled up her sleeves and looked at the long, pale scars running  
down her arms from shoulder to wrist. "Next time I go outside, I'm getting some shades and gloves."  
Sara watched as CyberSix rolled onto her side in her sleep, and decided that the dressing over the  
wound in her leg needed to be changed before it turned into a blood pack.  
Sara quickly and gently changed the dressing, but when finished, noticed that she had  
awakened CyberSix, who was watching as she finished replacing the dressing. "So, feeling better  
kiddo?" After she nodded, Sara continued. "Y'know, if you hadn't woken up in the alley when you  
had, you would be taking a dirt nap instead of getting my couch all bloody. So, are you willing to talk  
about anything?" Sara looked directly into CyberSix's onyx eyes, and raised her left eyebrow. Instead  
of talking though, CyberSix struggled into a sitting position and muttered about being stupid enough  
to deal with an ambush.  
"Well, Miss D'Arnise, I believe that I have overstayed my welcome. I can let myself out, so  
you don't have to trouble yourself." Sara was instantly on her feet and yelling loudly enough to cause  
CyberSix's ears to ring. "ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE??? Look at yourself! Your entire left side  
is utterly disabled! If you try to throw a punch with either arm, you'll dislocate your left collarbone,  
and probably have to go to the hospital. Don't forget that even I could floor you by punching you in  
the chest, and you can barely hobble, much less walk or run. How the hell are you planning on getting  
home? Use a bus? I doubt it. You had no money in that suit of yours, and it's so bloody that they  
would arrest you as a suspect in the unsolved murders. Now, accept the fact that you are definitely  
staying put for at least five days. Do you give up now, or do I have to bounce a book off your head  
until you learn?"  
After the outburst, Sara felt totally drained and sat down beside CyberSix. "Look. I'm  
definitely not going to let any patient, male or female, out of my care until they are almost totally  
healed. Also, if you're worried about being a greenskin magnet, don't forget that you're talking to  
someone who took one on singlehandedly and won. Also, I know more fighting styles than you have  
teeth." Sara saw that CyberSix had surrendered to her logic, or the threat of having a book bounced  
off her skull for a while, so she smiled slightly and looked at her. "So, do you have any questions?  
If they're stupid though, I'll refer you to the heavier books in my collection." Sara saw CyberSix grin,  
and felt the mood in the room lighten up to something resembling summer camp.  
CyberSix, feeling like she was back in school, raised her good hand and asked "Well, teacher,  
I'm just wondering, but what's with the scars? Ritual from where you come from? Something else?"  
Sara looked at CyberSix, grinned outright, and replied "I always thought that I'd make a good  
teacher. Anyhow, to answer your questions, no, the scars are not ritual, at least not in Canada.  
Actually, because it's a long story, but I'll give you the short version: In university, on a study trip  
in Africa, I was infected with an osteo-necrotic virus. As a result of the infection, and when I was sick  
of having to walk with a cane, I had the long bones in my limbs, and my entire ribcage replaced with  
duraluminum, and the rest of my skeleton had nano-repair systems injected into it. Anything else?"  
"Only one Sara: EEEEWWWW!! That is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard. The  
only thing that I can think of that's worse is to find out that I went out with a Fixed Idea." Both  
women shared a chuckle over that one, but when Sara looked at her watch, she frowned and tapped  
it. "Well, shit. It's almost 4:30 in the morning. I'll help you upstairs, so you get something more  
comfortable than my couch. How does silk sound to you? The spare bed has a nice spread." CyberSix  
shook her head and looked at Sara as if she had just grown a third arm.  
"Waitamin. Sara, (it's okay if I call you that right? Yes? Good.) Anyhow, how the hell can  
you afford silk? I can barely afford cotton." Sara smiled. "Well, if you spent less on bandages and  
leather patch kits, you might be able to get something made of silk. But I have to say trade secret.  
Needless to say though, my old job paid very well. I have about 3.5 million in the bank. Sadly, almost  
half is tied into research on osteo-necrosis." Frowning, CyberSix tried to question Sara a bit more,  
but in response, Sara said "Later, kiddo. We're both exhausted, and I probably need some sleep  
before I start looking like a creature from one of my old video games. C'mon. I'll help you up, and  
get a cane so you won't be so reliant on me tomorrow."  
Sara and CyberSix managed to get up the stairs in around ten minutes, involving lots of  
cursing, and Sara having to go back downstairs for a cane and the other vials of sustenance. Soon  
enough though, CyberSix was peacefully asleep with the five vials on the nightstand and the cane  
propped up beside them. *Poor kid. I bet she's at least 3 years younger than me. Well, happily, she  
won't suffer from loss of mobility, but will limp for a while. I'm worried about what that goo will do  
the her healing rate, and I sure as hell hope that the wound caused by the fracture won't produce any  
infections. Hmm, I'd love to go to a party sometime soon, but I'll be taking care of the kid for at least  
6 days. Great... I can't wait.*  
Sara decided to have a shower to relax and clean the stink of blood and gunpowder off of  
herself. Afterwards, when in her room, she thought about the events of the day, but gave up trying  
to think about it when she got a major headache. Eventually, she just collapsed into a deep sleep. 


	3. Lost Past

Meanwhile   
  
"What do you mean, 'YOU LET CYBERSIX GET AWAY!!!!' Well?" Jose von Richter  
shouted at the Fixed Idea as he smashed anything breakable within reach. "Uh, boss? She was rescued  
by somebody." Jose stopped short when he heard that, and rounding on the massive Idea, he simply  
screamed "She was rescued??? Well, why didn't you kill the dumb person, huh? Wait, I forgot, IT'S  
BECAUSE YOU ARE AS DUMB AS A BRICK!!! Damn! Must I think for everything on my side?"  
Jose walked back and forth while thinking, and, just before he hit the wall, he spun around  
and looked at the Idea. "You, take the most powerful gun you can carry, and go look for CyberSix.  
When you find her, kill her!" The Idea scurried away as Jose went over to a large-screen TV, and  
turned it on. Watching a cartoon involving small furry creatures being beaten over their heads with  
anvils calmed him down, so he switched to the news. Watching it, he smiled when he saw another oil  
tanker blowing up outside of the city, but lost his good mood when he saw a video of one of his Ideas  
getting the crud beaten out of it by a young woman with long reddish-black hair.  
Seeing the woman, and remembering the description of the person who saved CyberSix, sent  
Jose into another fit of rage when he recognised them as one and the same. Hollering for a Techno,  
he had almost totally trashed his room when one arrived. "Look at that woman! She helped CyberSix,  
and killed one of my Ideas with her bare hands the day before! I want you to find her, get as much  
information as possible about her, and hopefully, kill her! I want CyberSix's allies dead as fast as  
possible!"  
  
Next Morning   
  
Sara woke up at around 7, and hearing her invalid charge begin to move around, decided that  
it would be a good idea to start moving about herself. Getting up, she decided on camo pants and a  
tank top, and mentally thanked her foresight in getting all her stuff into the house weeks in advance.  
Checking on CyberSix, Sara had to stifle a laugh as she saw the poor woman learn how to use a cane  
in order to keep pressure off her bad leg. Sara checked the wounds, and was surprised when she saw  
that the lesser ones had disappeared, and the nastier one had shrunk by almost one third.  
"Just wondering, but why didn't you tell me you could regenerate?" Sara was almost  
surprised, but had seen too many things appear out of the Twilight Zone to be shocked. CyberSix  
shrugged and responded "I regenerate flesh wounds fairly quickly, but injuries to my skeleton take  
a lot longer. For example, my broken leg will take almost five days before I'm back up to fighting  
shape." CyberSix smiled mischievously and continued, "I have one major side effect after healing  
though. In order to keep from losing muscle mass, I'll have to eat about twice as much food as a  
normal person." Sara thought about being eaten out of house and home, and immediately looked like  
she had swallowed a lime.  
"Y'know what? I now have a feeling of great sympathy for my poor mother, who had to deal  
with three bottomless pits in a row. Now, because I just have to deal with one, breakfast is whatever  
you want, provided you help out some." CyberSix laughed at the look of pure aggrieved misery on  
Sara's face, and managed to get downstairs with no muss and fuss after she got some jeans and a T-  
shirt on. Helping each other cook, however turned out to be a comedy of errors, that ended when  
Sara told CyberSix to go watch TV (apparently, CyberSix's cooking skills are just good enough to  
burn water). Eventually, breakfast was ready, and the two dug in. *My god! She's more stomach than  
person! Even I can't eat a dozen poached eggs on toast, but she cleared the plate in less than three  
minutes. If I didn't know better, I woulda thought that she had a V-12 diesel in place of her chest.  
Hmmph. I'm gonna have to go shopping before she decides that her legs are still hollow and eats  
everything in my kitchen.*  
Sara swore under her breath at the idea of having to re-stock her fridge daily for the rest of  
the week, but still finished off her much smaller meal. "Well, you are gonna have to learn how to cook  
before you burn down my house, but because I'll have to go off and restock the fridge, you get to  
find out how to use my dishwasher with my help. Oh yeah, keep off your bad leg for as much as  
possible." CyberSix nodded, got up, and, with the help of her cane and Sara, she hobbled around the  
kitchen, cleaning up the sizeable mess.  
Soon afterwards, Sara sat down in her chair and ran a dry dishrag through her drenched hair.  
"Well, that's the last time I trust you with an extendo-faucet. Thanks." CyberSix, also soggy, sat on  
the couch and replied "Well, you gave as good as you got with that jug of water in the fridge. Look  
at us. We're both drenched because of that waterfight in the kitchen, and we managed to almost  
wreck your stove anyhow." Sara flipped on the news, and watched the anchor spew out a report of  
the total disappearance of CyberSix (they shared a chuckle over that one), and the discovery of six  
deceased greenskins near a destroyed machine gun.  
"Well, while I'm getting some food for that black hole you call a stomach, you can do  
anything while I'm away, but if I find out you've been bouncing around the city like a one-legged  
frog, I'll break your other leg." Grinning, Sara got her coat, and going to her bike, she drove off to  
a nearby supermarket. Returning about half an hour later, with the saddlebags filled with enough food  
to choke an elephant, she found that CyberSix was asleep on the couch, with the TV set to the  
Learning Channel. After refilling the fridge with the groceries, Sara then went to her room and sat  
on the side of her bed.  
*It's odd. I save CyberSix from being killed within two days of my arrival in the city, and I'm  
going to an important job interview tomorrow. Well, I want to actually look at the gift that my father  
gave me after I graduated. I never knew why he gave me them though, he knew that I was planning  
on becoming a biologist.* Sighing, Sara went over to her nightstand, and sticking her hand  
underneath it, she grabbed a key that she had placed under there yesterday. Moving over to a garish  
painting of a grey-haired woman working in a garden, and titled 'The Lesbian Gardener', Sara pulled  
the painting off the wall, revealing a heavy-looking safe.  
Opening it with the key, Sara pulled a large box out of the safe, and placed it on her bed.  
Opening the box, Sara took one of the two matte black DE50AE7 Desert Eagles that had been  
custom-built by her dad. They had extra-long barrels, reaching about ten inches in length, and also  
had underslung laser sights matched to pistol scopes. They were ugly guns, but Sara liked the fact  
that they existed because of the sheer power each gun contained. Also, when she had hunted poachers  
in Africa, she liked watching people squirm when faced with the idea of having to look down the half-  
inch wide maw.  
Replacing the gun in the box, Sara put it back in the safe, and said out loud "You can come  
in anytime, you know. I just own it, I don't shoot it." CyberSix popped her head around the  
doorframe and grumbled about being thwarted again in that ability. "What do you mean 'again'? This  
is the first time you've done that to me." CyberSix scratched at a small scab and looked at the floor.  
"Well, I guess it's okay to tell you. But only if you promise to keep it a secret." after getting Sara's  
assurances, CyberSix continued.  
"Officially, I'm the last survivor of the Cyber series, created by Von Reichter, but actually,  
one of his co-workers, when she heard about what he did, abducted the body of my little sister, Cyber  
338. Eventually, the woman developed a way to resurrect 338, and called her Kayla. After the woman  
was killed by Reichter, Kayla travelled the world before settling here and subsequently being killed  
by Reichter's damned clone, Jose. That was three years ago, and I actually found the lab notes used  
to resurrect Kayla in the first place. Using them, she's back and living peacefully in the city  
somewhere."  
Sara looked at CyberSix for a few seconds, then looked at the ceiling. "Y'know, I honestly  
think you may be joking, but I don't know. It seems to be farfetched, but knowing you, Hell, I think  
you'd find a way to bend the rules in everything." Sara smiled faintly, then got up, motioned for  
CyberSix to sit down, and walked over to the safe. "Now, you know that I have at least one handgun.  
Do you want to hear the entire list?" CyberSix grimaced, and looked like she would rather spit razor  
blades, but still agreed. "Har, har. The reason why I keep them in the safe is because the thing is made  
of Durallex alloys, making it strong enough to ignore anything short of a 15-inch battleship shell, fired  
at point-blank range. The reason why it's so powerful, is because it deters thieves and it has all my  
sentimental valuables in here, along with my twin Eagles, and a gun my grandfather made out of an  
ancient anti-tank rifle."  
CyberSix winced at the mention of guns, but otherwise kept a straight face as Sara gave her  
a yellowed photo of a young girl with two older people hugging her. "That is one of the last pictures  
I have of my grandparents with me. It was taken way back when I was ten. I swear, the time I spent  
with them was always well-spent. My grandfather taught me to appreciate nature through fishing and  
hikes in the wilderness. He was one of the reasons I became a biologist. When he died, it felt like a  
part of me had been chopped out and some of my soul just shrivelled away. That was almost six  
months ago.  
"I think I never told you how I got the scars on my face. I was visiting the orphanage my  
grandparents took care of, when several of those greenskins showed up and tried to kill them. I shot  
one through the chest with my grandfather's hand cannon, but the grenades in its fists went off  
anyhow, ripping up my face and wounding most of those freaks with the fragments. My injuries  
prevented me from rescuing my grandparents when they fired six rockets at the orphanage. They died  
trying to shelter children from the collapse of the building's remains."  
Sara looked like she was about to break down, and was barely keeping tears at bay. "I didn't  
even care about my injuries. The freaks left almost immediately afterwards, but I didn't notice. All  
I did for days was dig through the rubble, but eventually, I found their journals, and right beside them  
were my grandparents. Those creatures had callously murdered almost twenty children and two  
people who were harmless and only wanted to make children happy, just to destroy something.  
Nobody had survived the collapse, but my grandparent's will had also survived.  
"By decree of the will, I buried them in the Fraser valley near Vancouver, and the only  
mementoes I wanted from all the stuff they bequeathed to me was my grandmother's favourite ring,  
the journals, and the hand cannon from my grandfather." Sara showed CyberSix a small platinum ring,  
with the engraving of a snake eating its own tail and a word stamped into the underside;  
'Ouroborous'. She then brought out two leather-bound books, reinforced with gold bindings. Finally,  
she produced a wrapped object that she slowly unwrapped. Sara looked at CyberSix, and saw that  
she was focussed on what Sara was doing.  
When the object was unwrapped, Sara showed the huge handgun to CyberSix, and compared  
its size to her arm. The gun was easily twice as long as Sara's forearm, and the barrel, about 30mm wide,  
was a gaping maw with tooth-like soot and scorch marks radiating outwards from the aperture and   
the breech. It was a pistol in name only, with a better comparison being a handheld artillery piece.  
Sara caught the unspent cartridge in midair as she worked the breech, and showed the huge slug to  
CyberSix. "This, my dear, is a 30mm anti-tank slug for the Browning 'Tankbuster' Rifle, which is  
what this gun was before my grandfather converted it. Personally, I'll only use it when either hell  
freezes over, or when a tank drives through my front door. Now, I know you hate guns, and I'm  
wondering why, but first, let me tell you something. I would rather be shot than let any civilian in my  
presence be hurt by somebody with a gun."  
"You know, Sara, you can call me Six. But the reason why I hate guns is because, when I was  
assisted in my escape from Von Reichter, the old man who helped me was killed a few weeks  
afterwards by some Ideas with machine guns. In order to let his spirit rest, I vowed to never use a gun  
on a living being, or let anyone fire at a civilian." CyberSix looked at the hideously ugly pistol and  
raised her right eyebrow. "I do have to wonder though, how do you manage to keep your arm from  
being dislocated every time you shoot that abomination?" Sara chuckled, and started to wrap the gun  
back into its cloth. "You wouldn't believe how easy it is to shoot. The thing has a recoil operated  
reloading system, and most of the exhaust gases leave the barrel with the bullet. However, when I  
first shot it, I nearly took my arm off at the elbow, and the only other time I used it was when I tried  
to save my grandparents."  
Sara felt tears begin to stream down her face as she remembered the last day she saw her  
grandparents. She was on a break from her usually hectic job, and decided to visit them, just to use  
up most of a roll of film in her camera. She had spent most of the day playing with the orphans, and  
had to deal with her grandmother's fussing over the 'Idea of having my only granddaughter die of  
malnutrition.' At dusk, Sara convinced everyone to troop outside for a photograph of the entire  
family. After the photo of twenty children clustering around Sara and her grandparents was taken,  
and some of the younger ones had dropped off to sleep, the greenskins attacked, killing everyone  
except her.  
CyberSix was at a loss when she saw Sara just standing there crying openly, but was saved  
by the doorbell, allowing her to keep quiet. Sara dried her eyes, and walked downstairs to respond  
to the insistent ringing. Opening the door, she found herself face to collar of a huge man wearing a  
trenchcoat. "Good day madam. I'm searching for a wanted fugitive who was last seen in this  
neighbourhood. If you see the fugitive, call this number, and hide." He then gave Sara a small poster  
and a business card, turned around, and walked away. As soon as he turned the corner, Sara closed  
and locked the door, then turned to CyberSix.  
"Well, my day just went from bad to worse. That man is definitely not police, and likely out  
to get one of us. I just felt something like waves of malicious intent mixed with total disdain. It was  
just ... scary." CyberSix agreed with Sara's intuition and tried to defuse the situation by explaining  
it. "That is one of Von Reichter's technos, and he's actually hunting for me. You, because of being  
a relative unknown, won't be marked unless you're actually seen with me by one of the minions that  
are smart enough to recognise you. Now, in order to distract you from the swarm of negative  
thoughts going about in your head, I get to declare that it's lunchtime."  
Sara looked at her watch and grimaced as she realized that it was almost 2:30 in the  
afternoon. "Yay. So, do you want to learn how to cook, or do you want some take out?" CyberSix  
decided on learning how to cook, so she had fun experimenting with Kraft Dinner. Eventually, they  
sat down to eat, and they had a short debate over eating out compared to cooking your own food.  
"You're just sore because you have never used that type of stove before. Besides, it's your own fault  
for burning the KD into the bottom of the pot. Look, because you managed to produce a meal, and  
because it was your first try, I'll clean the dishes."  
Sara grinned maliciously as she went to the garage first, returning with a large chisel and a  
hammer. "What the-... I didn't do that bad a job, so what's with the chisel?" Sara laughed and shot  
back "Well, I need something to clean that pot you managed to destroy, and only a coal chisel will  
get through the mess you created in that thing." Sara ignored the frustrated scream , but had to duck  
the pillow thrown at her from the living room. "Hah! Good throw. Ever thought of pitching for the  
Blue Jays? You'd probably be a great batter as well." CyberSix laughed at the suggestion, so Sara  
shrugged and tossed the pillow back into the living room, accidentally beaning her poor friend.  
Looking at the charred mess in the pot, Sara swore vehemently at Murphy's Law, and started  
to knock encrusted pieces of KD off the bottom of the pot. "GAH! This stuff reeks! You really did  
a number on this thing. I think it could be used as dog repellent, considering the fact that you  
destroyed the Teflon lining." CyberSix looked over the top of the couch in time to see Sara put on  
a filter mask and yelled "Hey! Why is it that you need a filter to clean that thing when you could eat  
the stuff with a straight face? I could barely keep myself from crying because of the utterly disgusting  
taste of that goo."  
She watched as Sara waved her middle finger in the general direction of the TV and  
responded to that as well. "Very subtle, Sara. Why don't you check out your mail?" Sara agreed, and  
after chucking the pot into the garbage and cleaning the chisel, she turned on her laptop. Playing a  
computer game to calm down got her nowhere, especially when CyberSix started with the infamous  
'suggestions' that nearly crashed the computer. As a result, Sara flipped over to her E-mails and  
swore as she dealt with dozens of junk mail files. She read the message from the high school, and  
caused CyberSix to crack up with a joke she got from her subscription to BestofHumour.com. Sara  
also managed to crack, laughing her ass off when she found CyberSix featured as IGN.com's babe  
of the day.  
After calming down enough to breathe properly, Sara checked the injuries, and wasn't  
surprised when she saw that the minor wounds had disappeared and the major wound was the size  
of a small cut. Sara quickly ascertained that the broken ribs had reverted to severely cracked, the  
hairline fracture had shrunk to almost half its original size, her broken collarbone had also begun to  
mend, and the femur had also begun to heal. "Well, you'll probably need to use the cane for several  
more days, but the tape on your ribs can be removed tomorrow morning just before I go off to my  
job interview at Meridiana High."  
CyberSix just looked at Sara for a few seconds, then in a quiet voice said "Sara? When you  
go to the school, can you do me a favour?" after seeing Sara nod, she continued. "There's a teacher,  
his name's Lucas Amato. Talk to him, and tell him where I'm at. You'll recognise him when you see  
him because he is almost always wearing a brown trenchcoat, and is about the size of a small Fixed  
Idea." Sara looked at her friend, and simply muttered to herself for a second. "Amato, Lucas Amato...  
where did I hear that name before? Ah now I remember. He was an exchange student at my university  
for several months. My frat house voted him 'most likely to become a serial killer' when he responded  
to their hazing him with fifteen cans of whipped cream, about three rolls of duct tape, and about a  
third of the house's members.  
"I had to cut the victims down from the rafters, and when I took the tape off, they screamed  
and cried like little girls. What's really entertaining was when I found out what he had done with the  
whipped cream." CyberSix chuckled at the story, but stopped when she remembered something. "I  
think he actually told me that story. However, he never said what he did with the whipped cream. Just  
wondering, but you said that you were in a frat house. Were you a 'little sister'?" she noticed that it  
was almost 6, and turned on the TV in order to watch the news. "Six, you never want to know what  
he did. And, to answer your question, yes I was a 'little sister'. Anyhow, sadly, I need to suffer  
through an early morning, so lights out at about Eleven-Thirty."  
CyberSix grimaced at that idea, but agreed with the necessity of Sara wanting to be in top  
form for tomorrow. Eventually, after the news, and Sara seeing every game on her computer defeated  
by her friend, she went to bed at about Ten (ironically, she stayed up until almost midnight reading  
a treastise on biological mutations before CyberSix walked in and turned off the light).  
  
Next Morning 


	4. New Friends?

Sara woke up at her 'usual' time, and swore loudly enough to wake up CyberSix when she  
saw that it was almost 8:30. Getting up, she rushed through her routine, managing to get clean,  
dressed for business, and have breakfast in record time. Hearing CyberSix thump down the stairs with  
the cane, Sara looked at her friend, inhaled lightly, and said "You really need a shower. After  
breakfast, you are hereby ordered to get clean before I get back from my interview. How's the  
injuries?" Sara checked the (now-healed) wounds, and probed at the spots where the bones were  
broken, and after deeming the ribs sufficiently healed, she ripped the tape off.  
"OOWWW! DAMMIT! Remind me to never let you near me with duct tape again." Six  
examined the red welts left behind by the tape's removal, muttered about it being better than the  
alternative, and walked into the kitchen. "Hey Sara, I'll try not to torch your house through my  
cooking, so you don't have to worry about it while suffering through the job interrogation." Sara  
grinned and replied "Yeah. Suuure you won't. I'll be back at about one, and I don't want to find  
ashes instead of a house. Take care."  
She walked into the garage after getting her coat, and in about a minute, she had driven out  
to the end of her driveway. After closing the garage door, Sara used the semi-scenic route to the  
school, spending almost an hour just looking around as she drove. After locking up her bike, and  
putting her coat in one of the bags, she walked into the school, and to the main office.  
Entering the stuffy room, she walked over to a young woman who was chain smoking  
cigarettes, and after being ignored for five minutes with smoke rings floating about her head only let  
her have an excuse for reaching over and crushing the newest addition to the ashtray before it even  
got to the match. "Ah, now that I have your attention, and can breathe properly, I would like to talk  
to the principal of this school. Also, may I remind you that it is illegal to smoke on school property?"  
"Yeah, sure, whatever. They tried to stop me less than a week ago. Anyhow, your name is..."  
"Sara D'Arnise." "Okay, Miss D'Arnise, sit down, let me puff some more smoke rings in your general  
direction, and the principal will be out in a few minutes. He's currently reviewing your files." Sara  
grimaced at the idea of being smoked on, but shrugged, sat down in the offered chair, and produced  
a pretty good imitation of Dr. Evil. "Riiigght..." Waiting for almost five minutes more allowed a fine  
accumulation of smoke clouds to start floating around her head, and took the edge off of her mood,  
but when the principal showed up, she still had a faint smile playing around the corners of her mouth.  
"Ah. Good day Miss D'Arnise. Please excuse this reception given to you, she is a rookie.  
Anyhow, come into my office so we can talk. I am quite curious about your past history." Sara stood  
up, shook the offered hand, and walked into the office. Almost two hours later, Sara walked out of  
the office with a huge grin on her face. "Thank you sir! Oh yeah, before I forget, I'm looking for a  
teacher. His name's Lucas Amato. One of his friends asked me to tell him something.." the principal  
smiled, and as he looked at Sara, she could see his mind wander. "Well, right now, he's in room 221.  
It's just up the stairs, and about halfway down the hall. Oh, yeah. You get to start as the junior  
biology teacher on Monday, so you should start studying the basics over the weekend."  
Sara nodded, covered her mouth in order to hide a smirk as the principal began to drool, and  
walked out of the office. Going up the stairs to the biology wing, she heard the bell ring and flattened  
herself against the wall, seconds before an avalanche of students poured down the stairwell. After the  
main crush had passed her, Sara continued to go up the stairs, occasionally having to shove through  
clumps of stragglers, until she reached relatively even ground. Eventually, she got to 221, and hearing  
loud shouts coming through the oak door, she decided to look in the window.  
Managing to look through the grime-covered window was a feat unto itself because of the  
smearing and slime covering the glass, but what she saw nearly gave her a coronary. Inside the room,  
there were two students trying to help a large, blond haired man get a twelve-foot reticulated python  
back into its cage, while fighting off a very angry monkey. Seeing that the python was about to  
throttle the poor man, Sara opened the door, rushed over while kicking the door closed, and grabbed  
the snake by the head. Forcing her hand to the back of its head before it turned the man's face deep  
purple, she then squeezed slightly at the base of the skull, making the python go limp.  
After helping the three people stuff the snake back into its cage, and managing to get a  
restraining collar on the monkey before it started throwing shit at them, Sara leaned against the  
cleanest desk and threw a lopsided grin at the three. "Well, that was an interesting meeting. Are all  
your classes like this? By the way, my name's Sara." The big guy, straightened up and rubbed his  
neck, where the snake had begun to squeeze. Looking at Sara, he then enthusiastically shook her  
hand, nearly crushing the bones, and sat down on his desk. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! *Yeah,  
his resemblance to a gorilla is uncanny.* If it isn't the toothpick herself!  
"Lori, Erin, I want you to meet one of my friends and classmates back when I was an  
exchange student at Toronto U. oddly enough, she helped me with my studies so I could get my  
master's degree in biology." Sara nodded and shook hands with both girls, before remembering  
something the principal had told her. "Lori Anderson, right? The principal said that you and Erin are  
the top hellraisers here. Well, when I start work on Monday, you two are going to be stripped of that  
title." Sara looked at Lucas, and raising her eyebrow, said "Actually, I have a message for you, so  
your twin cronies here can disappear."  
Lori and Erin walked out of the room, whispering to each other about something that  
produced a laugh, but they left Sara and Lucas inside the room. She gave Lucas a written copy of  
CyberSix's message, along with her address and phone number. After reading the message, he  
grinned and thanked her profusely, accidentally dislocating several bones in her left hand. "OW!  
Fucking hell! Thanks for crushing it Lucas. Now how the hell am I gonna get home, when I can't use  
the brakes on my bike now. Hang on a sec... [Insert horrible crunching and popping noises from her  
hand] *I'm gonna have to pay for that later.*  
Lucas grimaced as Sara popped the bones in her hand back into place, and heard Lori and Erin  
gasp in sympathy from where they were eavesdropping. Looking at the damage done to the room by  
the snake, and the efforts to contain it, Sara grimaced and helped him clean up the damage done.  
Lucas looked at Sara oddly during the cleanup, but finally spoke his mind." I'm wondering how you  
managed to stun that snake. If you hadn't, I would probably be turning into a plank about now, and  
the school would need a new teacher." Sara grinned, then coughed as Lucas raised a cloud of dust  
when he accidentally dropped an old book in front of her.  
"Thanks. Anyhow, I stunned that thing by placing pressure on its spinal column through  
several vertebrae. The reason why I can do that is because I minored in virology and osteo-pathology  
way back when. Actually, you were there when I was finishing up my virology studies. The best part  
of that was when you tied up a third of a frat house with duct tape, and used fifteen cans of whipped  
cream in a strange and nauseating way." Lucas suddenly decided that a spot on the far wall was quite  
interesting, and proceeded to avoid eye contact with Sara for a few minutes. "Hah! I knew you did  
it because the members you strung up were the ones who had hazed you the day before. I was the  
one who had to cut them down from the rafters, and boy did they scream like little girls when I  
yanked the tape off."  
Lucas chuckled and looked at Sara shortly. "Well, I need to get back to work, and I'll drop  
by on the weekend. If not, I'll have probably been eaten by that snake, or be dying from some jungle  
fever that our little friend has in his slobber." he waved in the direction of the now-calm monkey. Sara  
chuckled at that, and opened the door. "Well, I need to get home anyhow. After all, on Monday I get  
to keep you alive, despite your own stupidity." Sara grinned, ignored the glare she got thrown at her,  
and closed the door behind her. Looking around, she called out "So, didja have fun listening in?  
C'mon, I won't bite." Lori and Erin's heads popped out from behind an open locker and swore at  
being discovered so easily. They walked over to Sara and looked at her quietly. Sara remembered  
when she was as innocent looking as them, but pushed it out of her mind.  
"I have a quick question for you two, but I also need to get home soon, so would you mind  
walking with me?" Lori and Erin looked at each other, nodded, and when Sara started walking  
towards the stairs, they followed. "Well, I know that the gorilla you call a biology teacher has been  
here for at least five years, but other than his love of jokes, pranks, and the total lack of a survival  
instinct, I know almost nothing about him. Care to fill me in about some of the gaps?" Lori, by  
consensus started talking soon afterwards. "Well, almost every day he goes to a cafe down the street  
with the English Lit. teacher. I swear, Mr. Adrian Seidelman is just totally dreamy. You just have to  
meet him. Actually, he's been gone from the school since yesterday. I wonder where he went?" Sara  
waved her hand in front of Lori's face just before she walked off the edge of the landing, and  
therefore was saved from a rather painful tumble.  
"Woah! Thanks. Anyhow, Lucas usually talks to Adrian during the lunch hour, but they also  
spend a lot of time at the cafe. Oh yeah, Adrian told me this, but Lucas is not only a bottomless pit  
all the time, but is a total sports nut. Well, we have to leave your presence before lunch is over, and  
... oh my giddy aunt!" Sara had reached her bike, and after pulling on her coat, and checking the bike  
for vandalism (thankfully there was none, otherwise some poor shmuck would have had a new  
asshole torn into them) she thanked the two for the information, waved them back to avoid being  
pelted by loose rocks in the asphalt, and tore out of the parking lot at about Mach one.  
Lori turned to Erin as soon as Sara had turned out of sight, and exclaimed "Damn, she is a  
monster on that machine. I bet that she's ex-military at least." Erin snorted in disgust and replied  
"Yeah sure. I saw her resume. It says that she has no military training, and with her academic track  
record, I'm inclined to believe her. But when I looked into her eyes, they seemed to be haunted by  
something recent and painful. She's seen too many things that we wouldn't want to, and I doubt that  
anyone would go to Yugoslavia in the middle of a civil war in order to study the animals there." Lori,  
justifiably wondering about the origins of Sara, didn't reply and the two teens went back into the  
school when the bell rang a few minutes later.  
Unknown to any of the students, the entire conversation had been monitored, and the thin man  
underneath the nearby tree smiled thinly. Standing up, he turned off the camcorder in his hand, and  
placed it in his suitcase before walking away, talking to himself. "Hmm. So the woman may be trying  
to foster a friendship with those two? I need to report this to Jose."  
Sara, meanwhile, was ecstatic at getting the job, and after parking in the garage she went  
inside her house. Seeing that the TV was on, Sara walked into the room, and saw that CyberSix was  
watching a cooking show while taking notes. Smiling, Sara walked into the kitchen before her friend  
noticed her, and grimaced at the knowledge that she was going to have to paint over several scorch  
marks on the ceiling, but when she mooched from a plateful of cookies, she noticed that CyberSix's  
cooking skills were much improved.  
Walking back to the TV room with a few cookies in hand, she looked at CyberSix, who was  
focussed on the show, and writing down a recipe for honey-glazed chicken. After she was finished,  
Sara looked at her, grinned, and broke the news. "I finally managed to get a good job!" she then  
broke into a corrupted version of the "Red Dwarf shuffle" around the room, much to the amusement  
of both women, then hugged Six. Sara's happiness and enthusiasm made CyberSix laugh, and after  
dancing round for a while, Sara collapsed into her favourite chair. Wearing a huge grin, she looked  
at CyberSix for a minute, then became slightly more serious.  
"These cookies are good, y'know. Just wondering, but are they store bought?" CyberSix  
laughed at that and replied. "Nope, they're all home-made. However, when I tried to make  
quesadillas the blasts of flame were too much. Sorry about the scorch marks, but I did manage to  
avoid destroying the kitchen." Sara smiled and shook her head. "I really don't mind if the kitchen is  
cooked, so long as you remain alive. After all, you are still a patient. How's the leg?" Six shrugged,  
but when she got up, Sara saw that she was limping.  
"Sit your ass back down! If you put much more strain on that break, you'll end up back where  
you started: with another busted bone." Sara got up, went over to the kitchen and got Six a glass of  
milk. After Six drank it because Sara nagged at her for about ten minutes, they nearly cracked when  
Sara groaned about turning into her own mother. Soon enough, Sara had grabbed a large, plush  
pillow and proceeded to start an entertaining fight with her friend, which ended up with several  
busted pillows and a cloud of feathers floating around the living room.   
"Well, that was fun." Sara looked like a deranged puffball holding an empty pillowcase, while  
Six had been covered with enough feathers to have the appearance of a bunch of swans sitting on her.  
"Har, har. You get the hoover. After all, I made you cookies, and dealt with your nagging." Six sat  
up, displacing half the feathers and a shredded pillowcase onto the floor, and wagged a finger at Sara.  
'This time, it was your fault. I still have to deal with the fact that you soaked me yesterday." Sara  
chuckled, stood up, got the hoover, and cleaned up the mess.  
When she noticed that it was almost 9 at night, Sara excused herself, and going into her room,  
she cleared a large, open space in the middle of the room. Kicking off her shoes, Sara stripped down  
to her undergarments before going through the snake kata of Pentjak Silat. After completing the  
unique contortions required to finish the kata, she proceeded through the tiger and dragon forms as  
well. When she finished the last form, Sara was not surprised to have the feeling of being watched,  
and turned around fast enough to see Six leaning against the doorframe. "So, did you get an eyeful?"  
Sara smiled as she walked past, getting a small towel from the bathroom which she draped over her  
neck.  
"Sorry Sara, but I heard you moving furniture around up here and wondered what you were  
doing. That was a practice from one of the martial arts, right?" Sara grinned at Six's discomfort and  
got dressed in her usual jeans and long shirt. "Well, you're right in that it's a practice form, but it's  
from Silat. And, before you ask, I'm not telling where I learned it, and you aren't being taught it."  
Six grimaced at that because she actually wanted to learn, but Sara shook her head when she tried  
to talk her into it. "Sorry, but you are in no condition, and even if you were fine, I'd still say no.  
Look, maybe I would, if you could spare a few years doing nothing but training, and I don't think  
that's possible in your case.  
"Oh yeah, the 'Bambi Eyes' trick will not get you anywhere." Sara had noticed that Six was  
looking at her with eyes the size of toonies, and she had squeezed some tears out of the corners of  
her eyes. Six gave up after a few minutes, and went back downstairs. Sara arranged her room back  
to the way it was, then followed. She saw Six in the living room, curled up in the large chair, and she  
decided that it was going to take about half an hour before Six decided to talk to her, so Sara went  
into the kitchen and created something she had read in an old book on biological warfare: a triple  
fried egg sandwich with chili sauce and chutney (you have to eat it before the bread dissolves).  
Six had to wonder what Sara was doing in there, but when she saw the monstrosity that Sara  
was eating, she nearly killed herself laughing. "Thanks, Six. I really needed that opinion of my  
cooking. The thing one of my friends said after being subjected to this was that 'It's a cross between  
food and bowel surgery.' Personally, I think he liked it." Sara sat down, and after placing the plate  
on the coffee table in front of the TV, she waved her hand in front of Six's face. "Helloo... Earth to  
CyberSix, we need a transmission here. Fine, be that way. Are you still ticked off at the eye thing?"  
Sara paused long enough to see Six begin to smirk at the utter weirdness of her statement, then  
continued. "Okay, I apologise for the Bambi eyes quote, but what's eating you? Something like my  
sandwich going through that plate, for example? OH SHIT!"  
Sara launched herself out of her seat and grabbed the large sandwich before it totally ate a  
hole through the plate, and after looking at the damage done, she shrugged and ate the thing, much  
to her friend's concern and disgust. "Umm, are you sure that can be eaten without totally destroying  
your internals?" Sara chuckled and nodded. "Yep. In university, I survived on these almost  
constantly. Scared the crap out of half my roommates too, because it always seemed to move towards  
them when they weren't looking. Anyhow, it's getting late, and I want to actually get some sleep.  
Have fun, but you still can't go roof-hopping until I say so."Sara smiled at Six, went upstairs, and fell  
asleep before her head hit the pillow.  
  
Next Day 


	5. Old Enemies

Sleeping in until noon was a right Sara usually reserved until the weekend, but when she had  
a pillow land on her, Sara replied by swearing repeatedly and at the top of her lungs. Removing the  
pillow, which she threw back at CyberSix, she then promptly rolled over and went back to sleep. In  
less than a minute though, she was forced to wake up when Six responded to the thrown pillow with  
a loaded seltzer bottle. "Why you little..." Sara launched herself out of bed, grabbed the bottle, and  
nailed Six right across the face with a full-charge squirt. "YAHH! That stuff's cold! Quit it Sara!" Six  
shielded herself by rolling over the bed and landed on the other side, with a loud thud. "The hell you  
say, Six! You interfered with my beauty sleep, so I'm gonna make you look like a drowned rat!"  
"Aaah! Please, I give up. C'mon, it was only a joke, so will you lighten up and let me go?"  
Six's head popped up for a split second, but Sara missed with the stream of water as she ducked back  
down. Swearing, Sara moved around the bed, only to find out the hard way that Six had a second  
bottle. "Hey! Not the eyes! I'm gonna get you for this!" Sara, while shielding her face with one arm,  
used her seltzer bottle to good effect, drenching Six's entire upper body. About ten minutes later,  
with both women acting like ten-year olds, they had been both totally soaked, the bottles were empty,  
and they were sitting beside each other on the floor. "Well, that's been the most entertaining wake-up  
call I've had to deal with. Where did you get the seltzer bottles though?" Sara wrung out some water  
from her hair, and rubbing her face, decided that she was going to have to get some towels to dry off  
the bed and the walls.  
"I bought them from the convenience store you smashed up a few days ago." Six smiled, even  
while plucking at the soaked T-shirt she was wearing. "Y'know, I think I could win a wet T-shirt  
contest, if I was willing to degrade myself that far." Sara chuckled, and looked at her watch. "Well,  
I can see why you woke me up. Because it's Saturday, I'll forgive you for waking me up almost three  
hours before I usually get up, but if you do it again, I'll use a super soaker." getting up, she got a few  
extra-large towels from the bathroom. Tossing one to Six, she then dried off, and tried to dry the bed  
and walls before they suffered from too much water damage.  
After most of the room was back to being only slightly damp, the two women changed into  
dry clothes and went into the TV room. Flipping on the TV, Sara saw that the news was the typical  
boring drivel until an article popped up with an interview on a 'professed' expert on the mysterious  
creatures sighted in the city. Sara was interested, but when the person tried to explain it away as a  
mass hallucination, she started laughing. Eventually, she stopped, and saw that Six was leafing  
through the phone book. "What's up? Looking for the number to an insane asylum?" Six grinned, but  
shook her head. "Nope, I'm looking for Lucas' number." Sara looked like she had swallowed a  
lemon, but she kept herself from commenting.  
Going into the kitchen to have breakfast, she heard the phone being dialled, and managed to  
overhear most of the conversation. "Hello, Lucas? It's me. You know where I am right? Okay, you  
can come over sometime today, but I'll have to ask my 'doctor'. Hang on a sec. Hey Sara! Can Lucas  
come over?" Sara responded nicely. "Only if he promises to not empty my fridge." Six grinned and  
continued her conversation. "She said yes, but only if you don't empty her fridge. So c'mon over. I'll  
see you soon. Bye." Six hung up, walked into the kitchen, and started to snoop around in the fridge.  
Sara, having finished making a double-decker ham and cheese, decided that a drink would be nice,  
so after polishing off the sandwich, Sara told Six that she was going for a walk, and went to the park.  
Going to the caf‚, she ordered an iced tea, despite the cool air. Soon, somebody sat down  
opposite her. "Well, well. If it isn't the contact for The Knife. How is she?" Sara looked up and  
frowned. "That bad, huh? Oh well. If you'd checked your E-mails yesterday, you'd have found a nice  
little message asking for bounty hunters. The meeting is set up for October Twentieth, but that's still  
a week away." Sara looked at the man with pure malice dancing around her eyes. "Go away Jim. The  
Knife is on hiatus for at least another month. And, before you ask some dumbassed questions, let me  
ask one: how did you find me?" "It was rather easy, after all. You are a beacon whenever you have  
to deal with a metal detector. I traced you from the airport, but haven't managed to contact you until  
now."  
Sara paid for her drink, stood up, looked at Jim and tossed the last of her drink into his face.  
"You are the world's dumbest shit I've ever had the misfortune to meet. If you ever try to meet with  
me again, I'll rip off your arm and bugger you to death with the wide end." Sara walked back to her  
house, red-faced and angry as a scorched weasel. Slamming the door when she went inside, she went  
over to her laptop and turned it on. Playing one of the games calmed her down, but she still felt tense.  
After checking her mail, she read the message.  
'To all experienced members of the hunters association, a prospective employer is in  
Meridiana, willing to hire any and all comers. A meeting is scheduled for Oct. 20, in warehouse 5 at  
the north docks of the city. The time of the meeting is at midnight. DO NOT REPLY TO THIS  
MESSAGE.' Sara leaned back after reading the message, then, after memorizing the relevant  
information, deleted it. *Well, this might be interesting. Thankfully, I can think about it at my leisure  
until this thing shows up. I still wonder who has enough money to employ anybody in my caliber  
though. My usual rates were in excess of ten thousand a day, but that's because I'm one of the old  
hands in the IBHS.*  
Turning off the computer, Sara listened for a few minutes, the hung up her coat, took off her  
boots, and grabbed the power cell where it had remained undisturbed for almost three days. Pushing  
in the panel that opened up the room with her 'specialty' gear, Sara dropped out of sight and she  
pushed the panel back into place so Six wouldn't find her secret. Replacing the cell in her sword, Sara  
saw the small digital counter climb to 100%, before she took the cell out. *Good. That'll last me for  
about 20 minutes of hard use before I need to recharge it. Now for that modification to that cursed  
subvocal mike. I've been muttering about it long enough, so I may as well put it in that pendant I  
bought a while ago.*  
Sara walked over to the table, and digging through the clutter eventually revealed a small gold  
pendant that would fit in the hollow at the bottom of her neck. Opening the back of the pendant, she  
inserted the subvocal mike from the armour into the hollow necklace. She then drilled a hole in the  
cover plate on the back, and threaded the receptor through the hole. Closing the pendant and trying  
it on, Sara found the one flaw: the back would fall off if it was bounced around too much. Muttering,  
Sara used her brain for once, and went back upstairs to call up a professional jeweller.  
Looking around, Sara saw that Six was either out and about or upstairs. Walking over to the  
phone after closing the trapdoor, she hunted through the phone book for jewellers, and after finding  
one, she called up, explained her problem without saying anything about the mike, and promised to  
bring it in on Monday at around Five. Then, wondering where Six had disappeared to, Sara went  
upstairs, and found her friend sitting in the guest bedroom reading a magazine. "So, anything  
interesting?" Six looked up and smiled faintly before showing Sara the magazine. "Not really. The  
newest issue of Popular Science really doesn't have much of interest." Sara sat down beside Six, and  
looked at the article that was open.  
"Yeah, riiight. A new theory on quantum mechanics by Dr. Anthony Zacharias is considered  
to be uninteresting? Even I've heard of him. I used to read the articles while travelling the world, just  
to keep my sanity. After all, when you have to go through Beirut to find some research subjects, you  
need to do something to stay normal. Doesn't he work at Meridiana High now?" "Yep. Actually they  
tried to disprove this new theory with that new Supercollider in the Black Forest." "Did it?" Six  
shook her head, smiling. "Nope. Actually, the collider's tests proved his theory. Not only that, but  
they had built it specifically for that example." Sara winced in response. "Ouch. Bit of a waste of 30  
billion euros. Use it to try to disprove a theory, and you end up proving it. Anyhow, you might want  
to come downstairs before your little friend shows up." just as Sara finished speaking, the doorbell  
rang. "Just our luck. C'mon downstairs. I guess it's time."  
Sara had the usual head start, and reached the front door just as Six got to the top of the  
stairs. Looking through the window, Sara saw Lucas looking decidedly uncomfortable, and opened  
the door. "Hello Lucas, and welcome to my humble abode. C'mon on in before something happens."  
Sara stepped inside, and Lucas walked in. Hearing CyberSix limp down the stairs, Sara saw Lucas  
grin, making him look like a gorilla wearing vampire fangs. Sara hid her grimace, but couldn't hide  
it after she saw CyberSix decide to slide down the bannister like she was ten or twelve years old.  
"Great. If your leg suffers from that, you're going into the hospital. And there, you have to  
deal with media wolves that will do anything for a picture of you with a busted leg." Sara folded her  
arms over her chest and proceeded to scowl at both people. CyberSix looked like a kid that had been  
caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and Lucas looked almost as sheepish. "Okay, Dr. D'Arnise,  
I won't do anything to risk my healing bones." Six smiled slightly, then turned to Lucas. "So, how  
have you been doing during my enforced absence? Still angry about Data 7 rooming with you for a  
while?" Lucas scratched his head, and smiled. "Nope, but I think that he gave me fleas."  
She looked shocked at that comment, but Sara ushered both of them into the living room  
before she could respond. After they had settled, and Sara had handed out glasses of iced tea, they  
talked about the happenings in the city, but nothing really was of note to Sara until the clock hit  
Seven. Sara was ignoring Lucas' horror story of what several students had done with about thirty  
garden gnomes, cement, and foam padding a few years ago. She heard a loud whistling roar outside,  
but didn't pay attention until she heard a loud explosion from just up the street. The blast rattled the  
windows, but Sara had already tackled Lucas and CyberSix, knocking them to the ground.  
"Holy Shit! You two stay here. Before you argue, you are in no condition to fight whatever  
caused that, and you are considered a civilian. I'll investigate, but I'm going to have to take my  
magnums. Sorry Six. I know I promised, but I'M not going out there unarmed." Sara ran upstairs,  
and opened her safe. Grabbing the twin Desert Eagles, she quickly loaded them and checked the  
safeties. She also grabbed four extra magazines of 8 rounds apiece, then she opened the window,  
climbed through, and jumped from the porch roof onto the grass. Quickly looking around, she  
thanked herself for wearing black today, making herself invisible until she chose to reveal herself.  
Going to where she had heard the explosion, Sara soon came across three people, two  
severely burned but mercifully unconscious, but the third one had been ripped in half, and was dead.  
Looking up along the street, she saw a large bus flipped onto its side and burning. Sara tried to get  
to the bus, but the heat of the blaze forced her away. However, she was close enough to smell the  
disgustingly sweet smell of burning human flesh. Sara, very pissed off swore quietly and mentally  
imagined the justice she would inflict on the perpetrators. *When I find those bastards that would kill  
civilians, I'll rip their windpipes out and whip them to death with their tonsils.*  
Sara then followed the path of destruction. After five minutes of tracking the devastation, Sara  
saw the source; five greenskins with rocket launchers, and another two with heavy machine guns. She  
saw that the group was led by an exceptionally large woman holding an ugly SMG. Sara continued  
to follow the group, and she sensed that another person was shadowing her. *Shit. What's worse?  
This group of heavily armed psychopaths, who are arbitrarily killing civilians, or the unknown people  
behind me? I made a vow to try and keep civilians safe, and if I attack from the front, the others  
behind me will have to go through those buggers first..*  
Sara quickly made a decision, and sneaking around the group, she walked out into the centre  
of the street about fifty metres in front of the woman. "Hey boys, wanna dance?" Before they could  
react, Sara shot out all the street lights between them, and disappeared in a shower of sparks. She had  
ducked and rolled behind an abandoned car, and heard the woman order everyone to fire. *Well, that  
made them angry. Time to continue the dance.* Seeing five rockets slam into the ground where she  
had been standing, easily smashing the pavement into dust, right before a flurry of machine gun fire  
gouged chunks out of the far side of the crater. Sara hopped up onto the trunk of the car and pumped  
six bullets into the two closest greenskins. The first one collapsed into a heap as all 3 bullets aimed  
at it punched through its throat, nearly ripping the poor critter's head off.  
The second one was much more unlucky, because two of her bullets hit the rocket in its free  
hand after the first slug took a chunk out of its neck. The blast instantly killed the poor sucker, and  
knocked the rest over like bowling pins. Sara had to duck the occasional chunk of flesh that flew by,  
but fired at the group's leader with her last two shots, but missed, instead pitting the pavement near  
the woman's legs. Sara ran across the street during the lull as the remaining greenskins got back up  
and reloaded their weapons, and as she dived behind a mailbox, she reloaded her magnums. Sara  
heard a faint hiss preceding a loud thud, and decided that it was worth the risk to see what had  
happened. Sara peeked out from behind the mailbox in time to see a trenchcoated figure standing near  
a storefront dodge into an alley as one of the rocket carrying greenskins fell to the ground with four  
metal spikes sticking out of its back.   
*What the hell!? Looks like I have another ally, though I wish that they show up even sooner.  
Wait a sec, that store is full of people! If a rocket hits that window, it's going to be a shrapnel  
slaughterhouse in there.* As two greenskins, both with rocket launchers, turned and aimed at the  
alleyway where Sara's benefactor had disappeared to, Sara jumped onto the mailbox, and fired a shot  
into the air. "Hey assholes! Looking for me? Come and get some!" She fired another slug at the  
surviving greenskin with a machine gun, gouging a chunk of flesh out of the right side of the  
creature's neck. Before the others could turn around, Sara had taken off, running towards an alleyway  
near the car. However, the greenskin she had wounded screamed in anger and pain and fired a blast  
of heavy slugs at her moving form.  
Sara felt the bullet smash into her arm, and the added momentum from the bullet spun her  
around onto her back as she fell to the ground. As she fell, she emptied the magazine in the gun held  
by her right hand, and was fairly accurate, all things considered. Two bullets smashed to top of its  
head into a pulpy ruin, while the remaining four spanged off the metal siding of the window. Sara  
scrambled into the alley, her right arm useless except for holding her gun. Sara felt the burst of agony  
running along her shoulder and knew that the collarbone was seriously damaged. "Aaaggh! That's  
gonna sting for a while." She heard the loud and distinctive thud of a grenade launcher and knew she  
was screwed.  
Sara launched herself further into the alley, managing to dodge behind a dumpster before her  
unwelcome gift exploded, pushing her forwards, and making her crack her head against the wall. Sara  
was dazed but felt the wetness running down her leg and knew she had lost a chunk of flesh. She got  
up and leaned against the corner slightly, then rolled out into the street, planting three rounds into the  
nearest greenskin's chest around its heart. Aiming at the next two as she rose to one knee, she saw  
them drop from what appeared to be more metal spikes stuck in them. The leader of the greenskins,  
after dropping the grenade launcher she had used to shoot at Sara, started to run for her life.   
Sara, very pissed off, and slightly light-headed from her wounds, stood up , aimed with her  
left hand, and fired three shots, shattering the woman's ankle and knee before she had gone 20  
metres. Sara limped over to the woman as she tried to crawl away, but Sara stopped the attempt as  
she viciously kicked the woman into unconsciousness. Sara spat a glob of blood onto the woman's  
face and turned to look at the carnage. "That's for wrecking my nice shirt."  
"Now that has to hurt. Can I finish her off?" Sara jumped at the sound of the youthful voice  
behind her, but shook her head. "Nope, I need this one for questioning. Wanna help?" Sara winced  
as she emptied the two clips, put her guns back into the waistband of her pants, and collected the  
other empty magazines. Sara ignored the blood dripping from her right hand, but knew that she was  
going to suffer through a hospital visit later. "What's your name?" "Stryk12. What's yours?" "Sara.  
Ow, dammit. This bullet hole in my shoulder will wreak havoc on my new job. Well Stryk, because  
you saved my ass, I get to invite you over to my place, and besides, I need your help in collecting all  
these vials, not to mention dragging this piece of work back for some questioning."  
Stryk12 shrugged, grabbed the vials from the bundles of clothing, and while helping Sara drag  
the woman back to her house, noticed that Sara was leaving a rather ugly blood trail behind her.  
When they got out of the dark area, Sara finally got a good look at Stryk, and noticed that she was  
wearing a trenchcoat almost exactly like the one she left at home. Then, she noticed the cybernetics  
at Stryk's temples and had to comment. "Those look painful. What happened to you? Decide to  
emulate cyberpunk characters?" Stryk laughed "I wish. No, actually, the same person who created  
CyberSix decided to do some 'experimentation' on me about five years ago. Now, I need to recharge  
myself with electricity daily, or I die. You can tell that I want to feed the damned bastard his own  
face, or make balloon animals out of his intestines."  
Sara chuckled at the descriptive and mentally censored language used to describe Stryk's  
'modifications'. She had slowed down from the blood loss, and was beginning to feel light-headed,  
but was coherent enough to swear when her arm rubbed against a chain link fence, reopening her  
wound. "Aaagghh, dammit! I'm going to kick the information I want out of this person, just so she  
can find out what I feel like." "Umm, wouldn't that also require the use of a knife so she can lose  
about a pint and a half of blood?" Sara didn't reply as she nodded towards her house, only a block  
away. Soon, the two women staggered up the to the door, which Sara opened with her good hand.  
She slumped against the door, not caring that she had left a streak of blood along the white wood as  
she got inside.  
"Honey, I'm home..." Sara said that faintly, and was starting to collapse when Lucas caught  
her, smearing her blood all over his hands. "Holy! You said you'd investigate, not that you'd get shot!  
Where's the wound?" Sara swore weakly when he touched her shoulder, sending waves of agony  
coursing through her. However, due to her wounds and exhaustion, she didn't object when he picked  
her up and carried her into the living room, leaving Stryk to pull the unconscious woman through the  
door.  
Six, when she saw Sara's barely-conscious and quite bloody form being carried in by Lucas,  
had to chew on her lip to keep from swearing a blue streak. Despite her hatred of guns, Six got Sara's  
magnums and extra magazines onto the table before Lucas got her onto the couch. Six had found a  
box of saran wrap to Stryk so the other person wouldn't bleed all over the floor, and had tossed a wet  
cloth to Lucas so he could begin cleaning Sara's wounds.  
Stryk had wrapped the woman's wounds in the wrap, and was rooting around in the garage  
for a rope to tie up the sucker. Six noticed that Sara was delirious, but could only hold Sara's hand  
to try and comfort her. "Lucas, can you try and find some tweezers, a needle and thread, and some  
bandages? I think that it's all in the back room over there." Lucas started to search through the room,  
as Six removed Sara's long shirt, revealing a black tanktop and many streaks of blood covering the  
right side of her chest from shoulder to waist.  
"Oh my. This is worse than I thought. Lucas where's the stuff I asked you for?" Six felt  
around the shoulder wound, searching for the bullet, and eventually found it, lodged just below the  
right collarbone, visible as a small lump. Six took off Sara's boots, barely noticing that the left one  
was coated in blood when she heard Lucas swear in pain, then return with a small sewing kit. He  
opened it to make sure there was what Six wanted, and after finding everything but the bandages, he  
went back into the room to look for those. Six removed Sara's bloody pants. At that moment, Stryk  
walked in after dusting her hands off from hog-tying the woman, still in the front foyer.  
"Bleahhh. The only thing as bloody as her was a dog I saw a while ago that had been pulped  
by a semi. Need some help?" Six nodded as Sara whispered something unintelligible, then looked at  
Stryk. "Sure, I'd love some. Go into the kitchen, get some clean cloths, and bring a bowl filled with  
hot water. We need to clean these wounds now." Stryk nodded and soon returned with the cloths and  
the hot water. With her mouth firmly set, Stryk used one cloth to clean the blood off Sara's leg up  
to the large gash that ran along the outside of Sara's thigh.  
"Yecchhh. This will require stitches, and maybe a hospital visit. How's the arm?" Six had  
managed to get most of the blood off of Sara's arm and chest, and noticed that the bullet hole was  
still oozing blood. Lucas had managed to find some bandages, and brought those to CyberSix after  
checking them out, making sure that they were still useful. "How'd you get here?" Lucas put every   
effort to be civil in his tone of voice, but his dislike of Stryk was still visible. "I walked. For Chrissake  
Lucas, just be quiet and be helpful. After all, Sara kept me from being turned into strawberry jam by  
shooting up four Ideas in less than a minute. Two of those were killed by her after she had been shot.  
Now, could you please shut up?"  
Six turned to Lucas, who, properly contrite after the scathing look she gave him, gave her the  
tweezers, and with a look of pure disgust on her face dug into the wound in order to retrieve the  
bullet. The grinding sounds produced put everyone on edge, but that soon stopped when the bullet  
was found and slowly pulled out. Sara, still unconscious, twitched and writhed in pain, but her  
complexion went from deathly pale to a slightly better colour as Six withdrew the bullet. Stryk went  
into the kitchen in search of a bottle of alcohol to disinfect the wound, and managed to avoid the  
hideous sucking sounds produced by the bullet leaving its fleshy prison.  
Six dropped the bloody piece of metal onto the table after she finished pulling it out, and  
grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniels that Stryk had found. Opening it, she poured some directly onto  
the wound, then fortified herself with a slug of the strong stuff. Lucas' jaw nearly hit the floor as Six  
expertly bandaged the wound, then stitched the gash in Sara's thigh closed, before going upstairs,  
carrying Sara and the two guns. Soon, she returned and sat down in the living room, looking at the  
prisoner which Stryk had dragged into the living room. "Well, Stryk, you say that Sara saved your  
ass. Care to explain while we wait for this piece of crap wakes up?" Stryk sat down in front of the  
TV and shrugged as she swallowed a glassful of the Jack Daniels.  
"Gah. Now I know why this stuff is used as a disinfectant instead of a drink. Anyhow, I saw  
that group blow up a tour bus about a minute before I got to them, but was distracted by Sara as she  
shadowed the group for around five minutes. After she got to them, she went around the group,  
walked into the middle of the street and shot out at least eight streetlights before anyone could blink.  
Then she disappeared in the showers of sparks, let the Ideas fire off their rockets and machine guns,  
and popped up from behind a car firing three bullets from each gun. Three bullets hit one Idea, and  
another two smashed into a rocket that was being reloaded. The explosion shredded that freak, and  
knocked the others around like bowling pins.  
That's when I distracted them by spiking one, but they were going to blow up the entire  
building behind me before Sara hopped up onto a mailbox, got their attention, and shot one through  
the throat. In response, it managed to put that bullet into her arm, but used up almost an entire clip  
in the gun it was using. As she fell onto her back due to the knockdown effect of that bullet, she fired  
all the bullets from one gun and managed to kill the one she injured before this piece of work fired  
a grenade. Sara avoided the blast, but I think that she got the leg wound from some shrapnel. Even  
with her arm basically useless, she killed another one before I could intervene killing the two  
remaining Ideas. After I killed them, Sara walked out of the alley, and drilled that person through the  
ankle and twice through the knee. I helped her home at her request, and now we get to interrogate  
this sonofabitch." Stryk stood up and walked over to the now conscious woman, and poked at the  
wounded knee with the toe of her boot, producing a scream of agony.  
CyberSix walked over to the person, and easily picking her up, looked into the pain-filled eyes  
of the captive. "You know who I am right? Yes? Good. Now, you have two choices: Tell us what  
we want to know, or I get the Anti-Tank rifle in this house and Stryk uses you in a game of bullet  
tag." Lucas' eyes bugged out at the mention of an Anti-Tank gun, but he kept quiet. Stryk, however,  
grinned and cracked her knuckles, making the woman wince in fear. CyberSix grabbed the woman  
by the throat with her free hand, and smiled evilly. "Now, first question: Why the hell are people like  
you trying to destroy this city?" The woman shook her head free from Six's grip, and spat at her. "Go  
to hell, you failure. I'm surprised you hadn't been blown up when Von Reichter's base was destroyed  
three years ago.  
Why don't you go somewhere secluded, like a waterfall, and disembowel yourself? It would  
save Jos‚ a lot of problems." Six snarled in anger and slapped the woman hard enough to knock a  
tooth out. "You just don't get it do you? If you want to live, you will start talking, or I'll get the  
gun." The woman shrugged and swore loudly enough to anger even Lucas. Six gave up, and after  
dropping the woman on her shot knee, she went upstairs. Going into Sara's room, Six saw that Sara  
was awake, but still pale. "How's your arm?" Sara didn't even try to move her arm. "Injured enough  
to put my teaching career on hold for a few weeks. Not to mention that I'm going to suffer through  
the equivalent of 'nemia because of my blood loss."  
"Wait a minute. You're 'nemic?" CyberSix grimaced at the idea but saw that Sara shook her  
head. "Nope. Remember that I told you that my bones were replaced with duraluminum, right?  
Anyhow, that doesn't produce blood cells, so I need 'protein supplements' to keep the blood  
degradation at bay. Also, because my blood type is such a bitch, I have to go through hell and high  
water just to get a transfusion once a month to replenish my blood from the attrition of natural  
causes." Sara leaned forwards and probed the leg wound with her left hand. "Ow. You did a good  
job in the stitching though.  
"Can you help me up? From the shouting going on, I could tell that the 'conversation' isn't  
going too well. And besides, you need me to open the safe. Where's my magnums?" Sara managed  
to sit up, and saw the twin guns sitting on the plush chair near the closet. "Ah good. Well, time to  
meet the captive." Sara managed to stand up, and with Six's help opened her safe. After putting the  
magnums away, she retrieved her baby artillery piece and walked downstairs, partially supported by  
Six.  
Walking into the living room, she looked at the sudden tableau of Lucas and Stryk staring at  
her gun, and the poor captive trying to edge away from the two. Sara quickly hobbled over to the  
person and used the gun as a prod. "Trying to leave? Already? We haven't even got the party favours  
out yet." Sara's voice was very faint, but still forceful. Lucas managed to pry his jaw off the ground,  
but could only stare as Sara easily flicked the safety off and pushed the barrel of the gun slightly into  
the person's upper back. Stryk managed only to stare at the gun, and ignored outside stimuli for a  
minute. "Now turn over before I put a shell through you." the person struggled to turn over, but only  
managed to flip over onto her back after Sara kicked her in the stomach.  
"Uurggh. Why the hell did you do that? Oh Shit." Sara nodded grimly as the barrel of her gun  
hovered a few inches in front of the person's nose. "Now, do you want to talk, or do I start  
amputating limbs?" Sara suddenly sat down beside the woman, and decided to add some incentive  
to the reply by slowly moving the gun's barrel towards the woman's good leg. "Okay! I'll talk. I was  
ordered to find you and, if possible, kill you. My master is getting very angry at the current state of  
things, not to mention that a single human killed seven Fixed Ideas." Sara grinned and replied. "Sorry,  
but it's currently eleven. Now, why would anyone be interested in me?" Sara said that question in  
such a sweet and innocent tone of voice, Lucas started coughing heavily, Stryk was rolling on the  
carpet laughing, and even CyberSix was smiling.  
Sara waited for a few minutes, letting everyone calm down, then continued with her unique  
conversation. "Seriously though, What's your name, and who ordered you to go after me?" The  
woman sighed, but told all. "I'm Jessica, and I was told to go after you by Jos‚. The failure over there  
might know him." Jessica nodded over at CyberSix before turning her attention back to Sara. Sara  
nodded, smiled slightly and looked at her allies. "Thanks for the information. We'll let you go soon  
enough, but I hope you can walk home on one leg." Sara then pistol-whipped Jess across the  
forehead hard enough to knock her out.  
Then, she kicked Jess onto her side and untied her. "Can you two put your mutual distrust  
aside long enough to drop her back at the spot where I shot her?" Sara pointed at Lucas and Stryk,  
who were glaring at each other. Stryk nodded and grabbed one of Jess' arms, looking pointedly at  
Lucas. "Well? Aren't you going to honour your host's request? I can't lift this sucker by myself, and  
I'm not willing to drag her twelve blocks alone." Lucas nodded and easily hoisted Jess onto his back  
in a fireman's carry. They left, Stryk acting as a guide, and Lucas acting as intelligent muscle. Sara  
safed the gun and put it down beside her.  
"Ow. Remind me to never lift anything more than five pounds until my arm heals." Looking  
at CyberSix, Sara nodded her head towards the seat. "Sit down. I don't need you towering over me  
like one of those damned greenskins." She sat down. "How's your leg? Still bothersome?" Six  
nodded, but kept her silence. "C'mon! I know you hate guns, but I needed to use those magnums on  
that group. Would you rather I have dealt with a group of eight heavily armed genetic freaks with my  
bare hands? You can do that, but I can't." Sara saw that Six was thinking about that, and she walked  
into the kitchen without grumbling and complaining too much.  
After drinking a glass of milk, she felt slightly better, and was putting the glass in the sink just  
as Lucas and Stryk12 returned. "So, have fun?" Sara noticed that Lucas had a scrape on his forehead,  
and Stryk was looking overly pleased with herself. "Now, you look like the cat that ate the canary.  
What did you do to our little friend?" Lucas grinned, then turned to Stryk, so she could explain.  
"Well, because she was getting rather unruly before we left your little crime scene, I simply embedded  
her into a nearby wall." Sara looked unsure about that, but kept her thoughts to herself. Lucas sat  
down on the arm of the chair beside CyberSix, while Stryk went over to Sara's gun, and started to  
poke and prod at it.  
"Stryk, be careful with that thing. It's loaded with Armour-Piercing shells." Sara cautioned  
Stryk12 quickly enough to avoid having a hole blasted through the ceiling, but still removed the  
magazine while ejecting the chambered shell. "Well, I'm utterly exhausted. What's the time? Wow.  
I thought it was only Eleven. Hey Stryk, you wanna help me up? After all, you have my cannon in  
hand, and I need it put back where it belongs." Sara managed to get up without wincing, and Stryk  
helped her upstairs, with their progress measured by a fading volley of swearing.  
After Sara was in her room, and the gun had been put in the safe, Stryk decided to hang about  
for a little while. "So Stryk, how did you get that name?" Sara's eyes were unfocused, but she was  
still speaking coherently. "Von Reichter, being the fucked up bastard that he is, decided to call me  
that after he 'enhanced' me. Stryk, for my tendency to 'strike down my enemies' and 12 because  
that's when he abducted me from my family. I escaped his clutches when I was fifteen, but I was  
considered a freak by my own family, and disowned. Anyhow, I've been living on my own, trying to  
make ends meet, and whacking the occasional Fixed Idea." Sara smiled faintly and tried to look at  
Stryk. "Y'know, I think I've seen you somewhere before...  
"Yep, if you let the hair down to hide the metal bits, and look semi-innocent, you'd be a dead  
ringer for Erin Cheng. Anyhow, if you're in the neighbourhood, and feeling beat up, tired, or  
otherwise miserable, I'll let you crash here for a while. G'night." Sara finally dropped into sleep, and  
Stryk went downstairs in time to see Lucas giving CyberSix a hug and murmuring something into her  
ear before leaving. She waited a minute, then, after giving Six the vials of sustenance, she left.  
Stryk12 thought about the strange conversation she had gone through with Sara, but chalked it up  
to still being giddy over being saved from death.  
Next Day 


	6. Recovery Part 1

Sara woke up, and feeling her shoulder, gasped in agony. She rolled onto her left side, and  
looked at the small clock sitting on the nightstand beside the vial of sustenance. *Uhggg. Why is it  
that I only feel slightly human today? Oh yeah, I managed to survive being shot by a ten-foot tall  
green lump of meat. Dammit! Me and my stupid ideas of 'investigating' everything explosive. Oh  
well, at least I'm alive.* Sara managed to get up, grumbling and swearing to herself, and hobbled into  
the bathroom, where she was violently sick from the still-powerful waves of pain and the subsequent  
nausea.  
"Well, that was utterly disgusting." Sara muttered to herself after cleaning up. Going back into  
her room, she struggled into a long skirt and loose-fitting shirt, then went downstairs. Seeing that Six  
was in the kitchen, Sara leaned against the doorframe until she was finished slicing up an orange.  
"Boo. Because I'm looking at you, I can safely assume that I'm still alive. How's your injuries?  
Healing well?" Sara poked at Six's collarbone and leg, but she couldn't find any evidence of broken  
bones in either area. "Okay, It appears that I'll have to give you a clean bill of health. However,  
because of my injuries, I get to ask you to hang around and help me out."  
CyberSix grinned and shrugged. "What the hey. After all, It seems that you've gotten more  
vials of sustenance in four days than I got in a week of nightly fights, and with less injuries to boot.  
I'll hang around until your arm has at least healed enough to allow you to move it around without  
bleeding." Sara winced as she pulled off the makeshift bandage wrapped around her shoulder, not  
caring that she reopened the wound by tearing off the scabs, and looked at the hideously stained  
cloth. "Well, into the wash for this thing. Oh, yeah, before I do anything else, I may as well show you  
where I have the first aid kit." Sara stood up, and after grabbing Six by the wrist, literally dragged  
her to the coat closet by the front door.  
Opening the closet, Sara pulled an old metal case off of the top shelf, set it onto the ground,  
and opened it. After the cloud of dust she had raised disappeared, Sara grabbed a gauze pad, a bottle  
of iodine, and some medical tape. As Six poked around in the ancient kit, Sara emptied almost a  
quarter of the bottle into her shoulder wound, causing her to hiss in pain, before she placed the gauze  
over the hole and taped it in place. "That'll hold me, at least until I can get to a reliable doctor that  
doesn't ask questions." CyberSix looked up at that, but shrugged and returned her attention to the  
oddities in the kit.  
"Hey Sara, why the hell do you have a scalpel in here?" Sara smiled and closed the kit, nearly  
catching Six's fingers under the steel edge. "You never know when you need to remove an appendix  
or a bullet. Give you an answer?" Six nodded and replaced the kit from where it had been. Sara had  
already moved into the living room, and had turned on the TV. Watching the news, she wasn't  
shocked to see a feature story about the violent acts of last night. "Last night, about fifteen blocks  
north of the statue, a trail of destruction is visible for almost two hundred metres. The perpetrators  
of these attacks were killed mercilessly by one or two people, one of which was heavily armed, and   
is considered to be armed and dangerous.   
"Seven of the eight people who had killed almost fifty civilians with rocket launchers and  
machine guns were killed in less than a minute, by eyewitness reports, and from a police statement,  
they said that there were three areas of major action: the middle of the street, where eight empty  
cartridges were found, behind a seriously damaged car, and in the entrance to an alley. The police  
spokesman said that 'Whoever killed those perps should get a medal, but we can't tolerate vigilante  
justice in this city. Also, we're questioning witnesses right now, and will release a report on that  
person when we get some information that isn't conflicting with other reports.' the eighth person  
managed to escape a police dragnet. In other news, the risk of being killed in the city streets near the  
north end has jumped another ten percent in the last two weeks."  
Sara turned off the TV, and looked at CyberSix. "So, any surprises?" Six shook her head, but  
sat down beside Sara. "Nope, nothing surprising in this example of the city's daily weirdness, despite  
your little killing spree." Sara took affront at that remark and poked Six in the ribs as a reply, but  
injudiciously twisted her right shoulder around, and pulled some stitches in her leg. "Ow. That hurts.  
You know full well that I don't like using my guns, and I got shot distracting those greenskins before  
they blew up a store with about twenty people in it."  
Six grimaced at Sara's statement, but apologised for her remark. "Okay, so you've proven  
your statement that you'd rather be shot than see civvies be injured or killed, but I still hate the fact  
that you could do anything like that, without any protection at all." Sara simply shrugged, wincing  
as her arm continued to bleed. "I really think I should go to a doctor, just so I can be sure that you  
got all the pieces of that bullet out." Six agreed, and called Lucas because Sara wasn't about to use  
her bike any time soon.  
Sara grumbled about being babied, despite Six explaining the merits of being chauffeured.  
"Yeah, and with Lucas around, I fear for my safety more than when I'm surrounded by greenskins.  
That man has no self-preservation abilities whatsoever. At the school, I had to save him from being  
strangled by a snake, despite the best efforts of Lori and Erin to save him from his own stupidity."  
Six folded her arms, trying to keep from laughing, but failed in hiding her smile. "Okay, so he's unsafe  
to be around. But you still need to get that wound checked, and I don't know how to drive a  
motorcycle or a car. So, by elimination, and because the nearest doctor is about a third of the way  
across the city, you're getting into Lucas' car with him behind the wheel. I'll be with you, but I'm not  
going into the hospital."  
Sara smiled faintly and stood up. "Well, before we do anything else, I need some food in my  
stomach. Oh yeah, why were you slicing up the orange? Making a fruit salad? With me around, the  
place is already pretty fruity, so I don't see a need for more of 'em." Six laughed at that remark, and  
nodded. "Yep, I decided to experiment with something that doesn't require the use of that monster  
you call a stove. I think it's pretty good." Sara walked into the kitchen and sampled some of the  
concoction, revealing the fact that it was good with some surprise. "Yummy! I've had some good  
fruit salads before, but this one is near the top of the list. You may turn out to be actually good as a  
chef!"  
Six tried to hide it due to her modesty, but was almost ecstatic at the praise heaped upon her.  
"Hold it Sara. I'm not finished yet, and you need some real food in you before you can have some."  
Sara scuffed at the floor with her slippers, looking, in every way, like an (admittedly well-developed)  
teenager caught sneaking in at 2 AM. "Alright. *mutter, grumble, mutter, gripe, complain...* Looks  
like I get to have cornflakes again..." Six nearly laughed her socks off at Sara's imitation of a sulking  
teen, but calmed down after she was threatened with the extendo-faucet.  
Soon, Sara had glommed her way through a bowl of cornflakes, a glass of juice, and was  
comparatively happier when she managed to mooch a small bowl's worth of the salad. Just as she  
finished putting everything in the dishwasher, the doorbell rang. Sara went over to the door, opened  
it, and nearly knocked Lucas' head off because he was wearing a Hallowe'en mask. "Never. Do.  
That. Again." Sara fumed for about a minute, then let Lucas in. "Uh, Sara? Quick question: When  
the hell are you going to act your real age?" Sara smiled sweetly and shook her head. "Never. I'm  
going to be sixteen and holding for the rest of my life." Lucas just shook his head.  
Six showed up, and after giving Lucas a hug, she turned to Sara and gestured for her to get  
her boots and coat on. Sara mentally muttered, but did as she was nagged, and within five minutes  
was waiting by the door. "C'mon you two. Quit making eyes at each other." Sara managed to get  
their attention by sliding a piece of paper between them, breaking the eye contact between the two,  
and convinced Lucas that she needed to go and have her arm checked at the hospital. Lucas looked  
unsure about being near Sara, and she correctly guessed that he wondered if it was safe to be near  
her. After convincing him otherwise, the three people drove over to the hospital. During the drive,  
Lucas turned halfway around to look at Sara as he drove. "Um Sara, yesterday, after you got shot  
and was brought upstairs, I heard Six using language more suited to a punk than to her. Any ideas  
why?" Sara prodded him to keep his eyes on the road, then answered. "Well, lemme see... I could tell  
you, or you could ask her because she's sitting right beside you."  
Lucas hemmed and hawed for a few seconds as both women glared at him, then rephrased  
the question to encompass both. Six answered first. "I'll tell you something Lucas. When a friend  
that's sacrificed something to help you is hurt, and you can't do anything to help, do you think that  
you wouldn't swear? After I went upstairs, I found out that Sara is definitely more frail than she  
looks, and usually gets through life by sheer willpower."   
Sara chimed in faintly from the back seat. "You should know. How do you think I got home?  
Normally, someone would have fainted just from the impact of having a hollow-point bullet visit their  
internals, but I walked fifteen blocks, dragging a techno, and trying to get Stryk to help me. Now,  
do you think you could do that? After also being pummelled by grenade shrapnel and denting your  
skull when you leap into an alley? Don't think so. Lucas! Keep your eyes on the road, not your  
significant other." Lucas peeled his eyes from Six in time to swerve away from the sidewalk, making  
Sara nudge Six in the shoulder as if to say 'told ya so' before he turned into the parking lot at  
Meridiana General Hospital.  
Sara got out of the car after roundly describing Lucas' level of sanity in several very  
derogatory terms and walked into the general entrance. After going to the reception desk and asking  
for a doctor to take a look at an injury, she sat down in one of the plush chairs as she received a  
plastic number card. *Number 37, and they're currently 'serving' #34 eh? This won't take too long...  
I hope.*  
  
An Hour and a Half Later   
  
*Well, I'm going to have to complain. Oh shit. My arm's still bleeding, and judging by the  
flow, I may have a lacerated artery. Time to get some attention* Walking over to the nurse's station,  
Sara rapped on the desk with her left hand, getting the nurse's attention before showing the person  
the now thoroughly-soaked bandage over the wound. "Now, I don't care if you have to wake the  
dead, but I need a doctor right now! There is a chance I have a lacerated artery, and if so, I'll be dead  
in the half hour it'll take for the current one to be finished with the checkup for that poor little lady  
who got in ahead of me.  
"So you have an interesting predicament: Either force me to wait in line, and possibly die from  
blood loss, or pre-empt me and call a doctor, in order to save a life. Which will it be?" Sara leaned  
against the chest-high desk, looking at the nurse, despite beginning to suffer from the effects of blood  
loss. The nurse made a smart judgement call, and used the phone to page a doctor just as Sara  
collapsed from the pain and bleeding.  
She woke up in a hospital bed, with an IV drip stuck in her arm, and having CyberSix and  
Lucas looking at her from the side of the bedrail. "So, waiting for the vultures to pick over my bones?  
You're not going to have much luck for a few years at least. So, why'd you decide to wander in? I  
thought you said you wouldn't be coming into this place." Sara tried to sit up, but was easily held  
down by Lucas. "Sorry Sara, but you get to stay put for at least two days. Which means, I won't get  
kicked into the chemistry classes anytime soon." Sara poked Lucas in the stomach hard enough to  
move him away from her sharp fingernails.  
"Great. I hope Lori lets that monkey loose on you while you're gloating. Can one of you get  
the doctor so I can browbeat him into discharging me early?" Lucas laughed as he left the room to  
find the doc, so he was caught by surprise by the thrown pillow. When he looked at the two women,  
they were pointing at each other with innocent looks on their faces. Shaking his head, he tossed the  
pillow back and left the room. Sara chuckled at his back and turned to Six. "Well, he may be a  
walking hazard, but he is decent. *In a freak sorta way. I mean, come on! You could've done a lot  
better than that intelligent version of a greenskin.*" Six chewed on her lip for a few seconds, then  
grabbed Sara's good hand and squeezed it with both of hers. "I asked the doctor what happened, and  
apparently, the bullet that had nailed you was coated with cyanide. You should've died almost twenty  
hours ago."  
Sara raised her eyebrow at that, but kept her peace. "Sara, c'mon! You may have the  
mentality of a teenager, but I know that you're rattled about something. You can tell me, and if it  
isn't too crazy, I won't sic the psychiatrists on you." Sara smiled and wiggled her hand in the loose  
grip. "I survived so long without any negative effects because of the nano-repair systems in me. I told  
you a bit about them, but not only do they arrest the course of my disease, but they have enough  
surplus to speed healing and make me highly resistant to poisons and other sickness. But what rattled  
me was a dream that I thought I'd never have to go through again. Y'see, it's a recurring nightmare  
where all the people I know or helped die in many vivid ways. That's why I don't sleep that much  
anymore."  
Six shook her head and was about to speak when a very petite woman in a doctor's coat  
walked in like she owned the place. Sara looked at the tag on the front of the coat and read the name  
silently to herself. "Well hello, Dr. Pearce. What's my prognosis?" Sara leaned back and supported  
her neck with her hand. Dr. Pearce flipped through a sheaf of paper on a clipboard she held in her  
hand and looked at Six. "Well, Ms. D'Arnise, you're a very lucky person. The bullet you caught in  
your shoulder had some very nasty toxins coating it, including Cyanide, Sarin, and Anthrax. I purged  
the poisons from your system, but by all rights and purposes, you should have been dead ten seconds  
after being shot. Also, the artery under your collarbone was seriously lacerated, but that's been set  
to rights as well. Still, pleased to meet you."  
Sara shook the offered hand weakly, but showed no surprise at the strong grip she received  
"Well, you told me what was wrong with me, but that still doesn't answer my question." Dr. Pearce  
grinned and muttered about not having pulled a fast one on this patient. "Well, you'll be discharged  
in a few days, but I'd love to put you through a battery of tests first. With your permission of course."  
Sara nodded her agreement and managed to take a look at the clipboard Pearce was holding. "Hmm.  
I can guess, quite safely I might add, that the chart there is not of my brain chemistry. It looks like  
the Dopamine for that person is way up there. Big-time schizo, right? Lemme guess, he's your  
problem patient until he's discharged or put in the psych ward."  
Pearce nodded, and took her leave of Sara and Six. "Six, I swear that I have never met such  
a kind doctor, despite the fact that she looks like she's only ten or eleven. What's with her anyhow?  
Is she one of your brethren?" Sara asked her question jokingly, but the response caught her off guard.  
"Actually, yes." Six leaned in close enough for Sara to feel the warmth radiating from Six as she  
whispered; "If you tell anyone though, It'll take more than a stay in the hospital to sort you out." Sara  
nodded faintly, then fell back into a drug-induced slumber.  
  
About 6 Hours Later   
  
Sara woke up, still feeling like hell, but when her eyes cleared she saw Dr. Pearce sitting on  
a chair beside her. "So, how are you feeling?" Sara's reply was a low moan that easily translated to  
'Sure, I feel like I was dragged through a knothole before being fed to a wood chipper. How the hell  
are you?' The doc smiled and chalked it up to being tired. "Well, Miss D'Arnise, please call me Reba.  
Anyhow, I dragged you through a MRI scan while you were asleep, and got some interesting results.  
Apparently, according to the scan, you have no bone marrow in your arms, legs, or ribs, yet you have  
a normal blood cell count, considering your injuries, and your immune system is quite healthy.  
"Also, when I took a blood sample, I noticed that there seems to be a metallic component to  
it. Do you have any clue why that exists?" Sara looked at Reba and frowned. "Yes, I can tell you  
why, but this information does not leave this room, so you can turn off the tape recorder in your  
pocket." Reba frowned slightly, but pulled the small recorder out and hit the stop button. "Okay, now  
about those bones, they're actually duraluminum alloy. I had them replace the originals after I was  
infected with a disease that would've utterly destroyed my skeletal structure.  
"Also, because we haven't developed enough technology to replace bones like the skull, I had  
nanotech implants injected into my body. Usually, they repair the damage done to my remaining  
bones, but they also help purge my body of poisons, close wounds, and otherwise make me a lot  
tougher to kill than most humans." Sara looked at Reba, who was chewing on a pencil, than smiled.  
"Actually, It looks like they didn't help too much this time around, and I suffer from a rather serious  
drawback. Because most of my bone marrow is now nonexistent, I have to go through a blood  
transfusion of AB- blood monthly, and take 'protein supplements' in order to avert total 'nemia."  
Reba started at that and poked Sara in the ribs.   
"So, your large bones are artificial, and you have billions of microscopic machines floating  
around inside you, not to mention that you'll probably be visiting once a month for a long time to  
come. Interesting. Oh yes, from what I saw of that bullet wound, your bones saved your life. If that  
bullet hadn't been deflected by your tibia, the slug would've gone through your heart. By the way,  
who was the doctor that replaced your bones?" Sara twitched at the poke, and replied quietly. "Dr.  
Charles Sorbie from Kingston General Hospital. He's been retired for about four years now, but you  
may be able to get in contact with him. Anyhow, I'm still exhausted, and I would love to have enough  
energy to be able to move around tomorrow, so I'm going to have to cut this conversation short.  
"G'night doc. See ya tomorrow. Oh yeah, one more thing. If you see CyberSix bouncing  
around, say hi to her for me okay?" Reba nodded, not sure wether or not Sara was mentally unstable,  
but also unnerved that she knew CyberSix. "Yeah, sure. Good night Miss D'Arnise." Sara closed her  
eyes and mumbled "Call me Sara. I feel old whenever someone calls me Miss." before falling asleep.  
  
The Next Day 


	7. Recovery Part 2

Meanwhile   
  
Jos‚ was really pissed off. He stormed around his room like an infantile tornado, smashing  
anything he could reach. "How the hell did one person kill FOUR of my Fixed Ideas?!? I don't care  
about the fact that Stryk12 was there, I want to know how a HUMAN could've killed them!" The  
wounded techno stood in front of him, leaning on a cane in order to keep her weight off her wounded  
leg. "Sir, that person killed my squad with two handguns, which she also used to cripple me. Stryk12  
killed three with her damnable claws, and that bitch shot up the rest. Thankfully, we managed to put  
a bullet in her shoulder, so she should be dead by the time I finish speaking to you. After all, I created  
that poisonous cocktail we coated the bullets with." Jos‚ paused in his destructive spree and looked  
at Jess.  
"So? For all we know, she could still be alive because she may be another one of those cursed  
renegades. Now, on the twentieth, I'll be in the city, having a meeting with several bounty hunters.  
As a result of your failure, you get to stand guard, and if CyberSix visits, you'll be the first one to  
die." Jos‚ cackled wickedly as he dismissed the emotionally crushed techno, then called another into  
the room. "Now, before you say anything about wasting materials, I want M-17 here first thing  
tomorrow. She's going to be one of my bodyguards during my meeting, and I don't care about the  
fact that she's 'unhinged' because father is dead."  
  
Back in the Hospital   
  
Sara was walking around in the hospital, still hooked up to the IV, but still flexible enough  
to go through her martial arts routines that involved only kicks. Soon, Dr. Pearce found her and  
knocked on the door to the small rec room. "I was surprised to find you out and about so soon. Then  
again, it's always good to see a patient up and about." Sara grunted as she finished a rather nasty  
series of high and low kicks designed to cripple an opponent at close range. She then turned to Reba,  
easily leaning over the petite doctor to grab a towel she had hung on the doorknob. "Well, I have an  
advantage over some patients. After all, my wounds have already begun to close, and I'm a lot more  
energetic than someone who was almost through death's front door yesterday.  
"So, why have you decided to hunt me down? Ready to poke and prod at my internal organs?  
Or will you want a sample of that nasty little disease floating about in me?" Sara sat down in a chair,  
with her IV tower faithfully following every move she made. Reba poked at Sara's leg wound and  
clicked her tongue against her teeth. "You pulled your stitches. Do that again, and you'll be stuck in  
here until Thursday instead of Tuesday." Reba sat down beside Sara to cut down on the height  
discrepancy, then pulled out a small notebook with a pen. "Actually, I just want to ask you a few  
questions before the press beats down the doors asking about the person who's been stomping all  
over those freaks roaming the city at night. So, I know that your real name isn't actually Sara  
D'Arnise, because apparently, if you're her, you'd be dead for the last ten years."  
"You got me. However, I'm not telling you my real name. Now, my turn. You are a very  
successful doctor, but you only appear to be ten or eleven. How's that possible?" Sara poked at the  
needle stuck in her left hand and mentally cursed herself for not telling anybody that she was a lefty.  
Reba looked at Sara as she absentmindedly swung her legs back and forth, looking almost exactly like  
a ten year-old. "Well, you didn't tell me your real name, so I get to keep my secret from you.  
Question two: Where did you get that disease?" Sara smiled slightly, managing to twist her face into  
a female imitation of Freddy Kreuger. "Africa. Here's one: What's your real age?"  
Reba scribbled down something on the pad and showed it to Sara as a response. On the pad  
was a three-letter word: 'meh'. Sara chuckled and shook her head slightly. "Serves me right. I give  
you an evasive answer, you give me one. Okay, I'll try to answer your next question nicely." Reba  
looked at Sara and grinned. "You're on. How many of those greenskinned freaks have you killed?"  
Sara leaned back slightly, doing a quick mental count then simply said "Twelve. Eleven in this city,  
one in Canada." Reba nodded and mentally scaled up her respect for Sara by a few notches. "Okay,   
now you have to get to your room before the press finds you, because they aren't allowed into any  
of the rooms here."  
Sara nodded and stood up, and, because of the design of those accursed hospital gowns,  
accidentally revealed a tattoo on her back from neck to waist. Reba noticed it and poked Sara in the  
arm to get her attention. "So, what's with the tattoo? Mystical reasons? Something else?" Sara  
frowned and looked at the floor as she walked along. Whispering so softly that Reba could barely  
hear, Sara said "Remembrance." she then continued into her room, leaving Reba standing there,  
looking somewhat confused. *Hmm. She's hiding something, but it seemed to hurt her when she said  
that. Whatever happened, it was recent and she's still suffering because of it.*  
Reba continued on her rounds, still wondering about Sara's evasiveness but she wasn't  
allowed to think about it for long when she was paged to the ER. After Reba had gone down the  
elevator, Sara opened the door to her room and walked back to the rec room so she could relax.  
When she got there, she sat down in the same seat as before and flipped through a magazine that  
caused her to laugh at the utter stupidity of several authors *Okay, lemme see... this one has no clue  
about what he's talking about, trying to make people ban genetic research. Also, this one over here  
has no idea that if his suggestion is implemented, it'll set medicare back by ten years.  
*Oh well. It just means that I'll have to shoot down some theories before they are approved  
by some asshole in the government.* Sara leaned over to get some paper in order to help compose  
a reply, and noticed that a news crew was heading for her. *Oh shit. I should've stayed in bed. Why  
do I always disregard everyone's suggestions? Well, I guess it's time to face the flack.* As she  
finished thinking, the reporter walked over to her. "Are you Miss D'Arnise?" Sara nodded and looked  
at the reporter like a cat would look at a mouse.  
"Good. I have a few questions for you, not the least of which is will you consent to being on  
the news?" "No. I have no wish to be in the news, or answer any questions. You now have two  
choices: continue to harass me and risk having your jaw broken, or leave." Sara got up before the  
reporter could respond, and walked back towards her room, mentally cursing the fact that she was  
stuck in the hospital until she was totally healed. As the crew tried to pursue her, she walked over to  
the nurse's desk and whispered a few sentences to the duty nurse.  
Sara then continued on to her room as the nurse ordered the news crew to leave now or  
security would be called in. Sara smiled as the reporter sputtered his way into having his foot up to  
his knee in his mouth. *Well, that was interesting... We'll see how he goes through with that story  
on news at Six.* She walked into her room and noticed that someone was in the chair beside her bed.  
Sara let her eyes adjust to the faint light, then smiled when she saw that it was Erin Cheng. "Hey  
kiddo. Shouldn't you be in school right now?" Sara walked over to Erin and shook her hand, mentally  
shaking her head.  
"We wondered where the newest teacher had disappeared to, but Lucas told me that you were  
hospitalized yesterday. So, how did you manage to get shot anyhow?" Sara wagged her finger at Erin  
and shook her head simultaneously. "Sorry kid, but the only clue you're getting outta me is that the  
person who shot me was tall, dumb, and green. Still, you didn't answer my question..." Erin smiled  
as Sara lay back down in the bed, and decided to give up. "Actually, if you had looked at a clock  
within the last hour or two, you would've seen that school's been out for the last hour and a half."  
Sara groaned, knowing that she was going to have to suffer through at least one well-meaning but  
simple-minded visit by Lucas.  
"Great. Do you wanna play bodyguard and keep Lucas away from me? Hell, if you do a good  
job, I'll pay you fifty bucks." Sara saw Erin's eyes light up at the mention of money and grinned when  
Erin nodded. "So, what do you want me to do? Beat him up, or just keep him out of reach?" Sara  
grinned at Erin's question and shook her head. "Just keep the gorilla from touching me. With my luck  
he'll bust the stitches in my shoulder, and that'll be a very bad thing." Erin smiled and nodded, then  
promptly switched her attention to the small TV beside the bed.  
Within an hour, Sara and Erin had given up on waiting for Lucas, and were playing poker for  
fun. "Hah! Full house! Try to beat that, Sara." Erin slapped the cards down, revealing aces and  
queens. "Sorry Erin, but you're in the toilet. Royal Flush. Any last words before I push the lever?"  
Sara grinned maliciously as Erin groaned at her loss. "Dammit Sara! That's your ninth straight win  
against me! How do you do it?" Sara pointed at the deck of cards. "It's simple, really. I'm damn  
lucky, not to mention that I've been stacking the deck every time I shuffled it." Sara smiled at Erin's  
frustrated scream, then had to block a punch aimed at her head.  
Instead of using her arm, Sara blocked the swing with the plastic bed tray, easily bruising  
Erin's knuckles, and accidentally gashing her hand.. "Ow. You should get that looked at." Sara had  
to raise her voice in order to be heard over Erin's swearing, but when the long torrent of verbal abuse  
ended, Erin agreed to Sara's advice and convinced the duty nurse to clean and bandage the wound.  
Soon, they had managed to destroy their patience with card games, so they had thrown three decks  
worth at each other. Sara plucked the Queen of Spades from her hair with her good hand and lazily  
flipped it across her knuckles before launching it into the far wall with enough force to lodge in the  
stucco.  
"Wow. Where'd you learn that trick?" Sara flipped another card into the wall, then responded  
while absently tracing Erin's outline with another volley of cards. "I taught myself that when I was  
hospitalized back in my university days. Honestly, I think that hospitals are the most boring places  
in the known world, short of a lawyer convention. Hold still now, this last card will take a bit of  
concentration." Sara smiled as Erin looked like she was going to bolt and run from the room, but  
threw the card anyhow, easily parting Erin's hair down the middle with it.  
"Ha! Last time I did that, the person moved and nearly lost an ear. Suffering from a coronary  
yet?" Erin swore at Sara for a good five minutes before calming down, then ducked as Sara flipped  
another card into her hand. Sara grinned at Erin's reflexes, then placed it onto the table. "Gotcha.  
C'mere you. I want to show you how I did that." Erin watched as Sara slowed down her card flipping  
to what could amount to a crawl, then tried to copy her as Sara launched the card into the wall. Erin's  
first attempt bounced off the wall, smacking into her forehead, but Erin got better in the next hour  
as Sara perforated the wall repeatedly.  
As the clock slowly crawled towards 5 PM, Sara knew that visiting hours would be over in  
about half an hour, and was secretly relieved that Lucas hadn't put in an appearance. Then, Murphy's  
Law took over and she heard him ask the duty nurse what room she was in. *Damn. I was hoping  
someone upstairs would like me, but I guess not. Well, maybe I can make him squirm.*Sara motioned  
Erin to sit beside her, then grinned wickedly as she flipped four cards between her fingers. *This'll  
put the fear of me into him...* Lucas walked into the room, holding a shopping bag in his left hand,  
and froze instantly when he heard four thuds around his ears. Looking around, he saw the four  
playing cards embedded in the wooden doorframe at the level of his ears.  
"Umm, I could come back later y'know, but then I'd have to give someone else this foot-long  
hoagie." Sara's eyes nearly doubled in size at the mention of real food, then she bust out laughing,  
waving Lucas to a seat, and making Erin wonder about Sara's mental stability. After calming down,  
Sara poked Lucas in the chest. "Okay. Seriously now, what's in the bag?" Lucas grinned and pulled  
a litre bottle of polar ice vodka out of the bag along with two glasses. "Well, I saw this in the corner  
store, and I noticed that it's Canadian. I thought you'd like a drink from home." Sara grinned widely  
and nodded. "Actually, I don't like vodka that much; I prefer the simplicity of Dragon's Breath. But  
what the hey, I need something to dehydrate me."   
Lucas poured the drink into the glasses, and after toasting her, he took a swig of the drink.  
As soon as he swallowed, he nearly gagged at the strength of the drink. Sara smiled before taking a  
sip to gauge the sheer power of the vodka. "Whoo! That's some good stuff. Then again, by my  
standards, it's only middle of the road. Hey Erin, You're about eighteen right? Try this." Sara foisted  
the rest of the glass onto Erin before Lucas could object, then distracted him by flipping a card across  
the knuckles of her left hand. "So, what else do you have in there? Hopefully you have at least one  
book on biology in there."  
Lucas nodded and pulled out a book from the bag and gave it to Sara. She flipped it to the  
table of contents and grinned. "Aw thanks Lucas. I've been meaning to get this thing for at least a  
month. Yeah, this'll be great. I'm going to spend a lot of time poking around in this thing. Have you  
talked to Six yet? I bet she's bored out of her mind by now." Lucas smiled faintly, and Erin giggled  
like she was ten. "Actually, she's out and about, so don't be surprised if you get a visit at around Nine  
tonight. Oh, yeah. According to her, you have about six more scorch marks on the ceiling of your  
kitchen due to her efforts to cook."  
Sara grumbled at that, but smiled anyhow when her verbal antics caused both guests to laugh.  
"Well, it's getting to the end of visiting hours, and I'm feeling somewhat tired, so can you two scoot?  
Don't worry about the book, but you better take the vodka before the nurse shows up. I'll probably  
be out of here by Wednesday, so I can and will take over the biology class by Thursday. Have fun,  
and give Six this." Sara grabbed a small object that was on the nightstand, then put it in Lucas' ham-  
like fist, closing his fingers over it. "Tell her to wear it over her heart."  
Lucas opened his fingers to look at a small metal brooch of two older people holding hands  
with a child. He nodded, slightly choked up by the emotion present in the small gift. "I will. I'll see  
you tomorrow." Sara nodded, then looked at Erin. "Just to be nice Erin, I'll get you something as  
well, but I'm not going to be able to get what I have in mind until Friday morning. Oh yeah, because  
you managed to complete your 'mission' I'll pay you as soon as I'm out of here." Erin nodded, then  
motioned Lucas out the door before she left as well. Sara smiled as she overheard Lucas asking what  
Erin's mission was, but she tuned out the response.  
*Hmm. Let's see, it's almost 5:30, and I'm feeling somewhat tired. I guess that's because my  
blood count still isn't back up to exceptional levels. I wonder where that midget Pearce went?  
Probably have to stuff someone's guts back in after a car accident. Well, I have a few hours before  
Six somehow appears, so I may as well see how my leg's healed. I may grumble about the nanotech,  
but I have to admit that the accelerated healing is a godsend.* Sara decided to go back to the rec  
room for a little while, and when there, redid the routines she had completed that morning. After  
completing the last one, and wiping the sweat out of her eyes, Sara prodded the thigh wound and  
smiled when she felt that the wound had shrunk by almost half.  
*Heh. The doc's going to have a conniption fit when she sees that I'm disobeying her orders.  
Oh well. At least I feel better than yesterday. Hmm. Some of those stitches will have to come out,   
hopefully by the end of today. Well, my arm also feels better, so by tomorrow I'll be able to go  
through my usual routines instead of this attenuated one.* After glancing at the clock, Sara went back  
to her room and looked at herself in the mirror. *Eh. I look better than yesterday, that's for sure. I  
wonder when Six is going to make an appearance. Lucas said about Nine, but I trust him about as  
far as I can throw him. Erin seems nice, if motivated by money a bit much. Still, I remember when  
I was the same as her.*  
Sara was interrupted in her musings by a faint tapping at the window, which she nearly  
jumped out of her skin at. Opening the window, she stepped back in time to avoid being bowled over  
by Six as she climbed through. "Well, you seem to be doing fairly good. You definitely look better  
than yesterday. Honestly, when the nurse saw you yesterday, she swore blind that you looked like  
death warmed over." Sara suffered through a light headlock and noogie, but got Six back with a poke  
and a prod at her ribs. "Gee, thanks for that ringing endorsement. Lucas told me you managed to blast  
some holes into the kitchen ceiling. How'd you manage to do that?" Six shrugged and mouthed 'Stir-  
fry'. "Thanks. Y'know, I'm going to have to suffer through a mountain of repair bills for that part  
of my house before summer.  
"So, didja get my gift through Lucas?" Six nodded and showed Sara the brooch pinned onto  
the underside of her collar. "I like it. However, I can't understand how you got it while stuck in  
here." Sara smiled and sat down. "Actually, I got it two days ago as a present for you because you  
tolerated me for most of the week. Wear it in good health. So, what brings you here, other than  
concern for my well-being?" Six sat down beside Sara and let her hand twitch the bed sheets into  
place. "Well, I was wondering where you had wandered off to the morning before you got shot." Sara  
looked at Six for a few seconds, then chuckled. "Riiight. Actually, I had a drink from the outdoor caf‚  
near that giant statue in the park. I think that you want to ask something other than that. What is it?"  
Six frowned, but being caught, had to answer. "Okay, I give. I want to know where you  
learned to shoot like that. Stryk told me what you did, and the only other people I can think of with  
your level of skill are either in the military or Olympic candidates." Sara shrugged. "I'm Canadian,  
I've explored areas that were ripped up by major warfare in pursuit of unique biological specimens,  
and my father was a Commander in the RCA. Now you can connect the dots." Six grimaced as she  
worked through the evasive answer, but caught onto the right thread quickly enough. "Your father  
dragged you out for target shooting or hunting when you were a child, huh?"  
"Yep. I honed my skills for self defence when I was travelling the world. Oh yes, if you ever  
decide to go on a round-the-world tour, avoid Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan like the plague." Sara  
looked over at the door to the hallway and sighed. "You can come in anytime doc. I won't bite. I  
already have enough problems to deal with." Six's eyes widened fractionally as Reba walked into the  
room, scuffing her shoes on the worn tiles. "How do you do that?" Sara grinned and shook her head.  
"Trade secret. How d'you do doc?" Reba brightened up and sat down on the chair pointed at by Sara,  
just in time to catch Six's nod of greeting.  
"Well Sara, your blood work came back this afternoon, and, to be honest, I'm utterly  
confused by it. This has given me the excuse of sending a sample to an acquaintance of mine who may  
be able to shed some light on the really odd chemical cocktail that you call your blood. My friend may  
be coming over at about Ten, maybe Ten-Thirty, so try to be awake okay?" Sara nodded quickly,  
then asked the most obvious question. "So, what's the name of your friend?" Reba paused for a few  
seconds, wondering wether she should reveal the person's name, then decided to tell the truth. "His  
name is Doctor Anthony Zacharias. I'll be surprised if you know him."  
Sara frowned at Reba for a few seconds, then spoke. "Who hasn't heard of him? Not many  
people know him personally, but even I've seen his effect on the world of Quantum Physics, despite  
the fact that I have little interest in that field. One quote attributed to another quantum physicist was  
that his effect on the field is like a child carpet-bombing anthills with dozens of M-80s." Her  
statement set off a cluster of child-like giggles from where Six was sitting, and made Reba double  
over in a coughing fit. Six got up and hit Reba in the upper back to interrupt the coughing, then  
wiped the tears out of her eyes as she explained why she had cracked up.  
"That sounds like one of his competitors. Zack has managed to rewrite about half the  
'immutable' laws of physics, quantum and otherwise. As a result, a lot of people in the sciences are  
quite willing to try and disprove him, no matter what the expense." Sara chewed on her lower lip for  
a second, then grinned. "Yeah, like that 30 billion euro supercollider in the Black Forest. For some  
odd reason Reba, I think I like you. Now, why don't we violate some rules and play a game of  
poker?"  
Six smiled and shrugged, and Reba gave in after Sara pointed out that she probably hadn't  
had a break since Seven that morning. Soon, Sara had raised the stakes to Truth or Dare mixed with  
the game, and was lucky enough to convince Six to either give up the name of her significant other  
or walk around the room dressed like Reba for five minutes. Naturally, Six decided to go for the dare,  
and when she lost the hand, both Sara and Reba had a laugh as Six grumbled her way through the  
routine, mocking both the diminutive doctor and herself.  
Soon, Reba was playing cards while trying to stand on her head, and Sara was wearing Six's  
hat as a 'trophy', but had managed to become 'lackey-for-an-hour' to Six when she healed, and Reba  
had a promise from Sara to sing 'I'm a little teapot' by tomorrow. In less than five minutes, all three  
were laughing, mainly because Sara decided to imitate several infamous characters from movies in  
their respective accents. They calmed down soon enough when Reba saw that it was Ten and  
someone had just walked out of the elevator.  
In less than a minute, someone knocked on the door, and Reba opened it, revealing a tall man,  
wearing a long coat and hat, and apparently around fifty years old. Reba smiled when she saw him,  
despite barely coming up to his waist, and Six got up to greet him with a handshake and muttered  
greetings. Sara waited patiently for someone to introduce her to the man, but she could guess that  
he was Anthony Zacharias. Soon, Six turned back to Sara and simply pulled the man over to her.  
"Sara, please meet one of my trusted friends, Dr. Zack. Zack, another one of my friends, Sara  
D'Arnise." Sara smiled and offered her left hand to be shaken. Zack took the offer after a few  
seconds of hesitation, then realised why Sara had offered her left hand when he saw the bandage  
covering her right shoulder.  
"My lord. That looks quite painful. Can you tell me how you got such a nasty wound?"  
"Simple doc. I got shot by something big, dumb, and green. Worst thing though, is that I could've  
avoided the leg wound if I had been a second faster." Zack raised his eyebrows at that remark, but  
changed the subject. "Well Miss, Reba sent me a sample of your blood this afternoon, and I can  
honestly say that I'm totally baffled by what your blood has in it. I found several metallic compounds,  
along with trace amounts of radioactive isotopes. Also, when I scanned part of the sample with an  
electron microscope, I saw that those compounds were highly advanced nanomachinery. Can you  
explain how you have that technology?"  
Sara glanced at Six, who shrugged, then made a decision. "I guess so. If you managed to  
examine my blood at a level to clearly pick out those nanobots, you'd have noticed a nasty little virus  
going about its business too. That virus has managed to devastate my skeleton over the course of  
several years, and as a result, I have those little robots to maintain what's left of my original bones.  
Charles Sorbie was the person who did the necessary surgeries." Seeing a blank look on Six and  
Zack's faces, Sara chuckled slightly and nodded towards Reba. "You probably know who he is. You  
want to fill them in, or shall I?" Reba nodded, smiling, and sat down in the chair where she had been  
playing cards. "Dr. Sorbie, despite being retired, is still considered one of the most influential doctors  
in Canada. Back in '97, he decided to shoot down all objections and replaced a HIV+ patient's elbows  
after they had been worn down by skeletal damage.  
"Actually, the damage done to Sara's skeleton is comparative to osteoporosis because the  
bones become porous, but they also soften to a level approximating that of cartilage." Zack nodded  
as he absorbed the information, then turned back to Sara. "I noticed that your arms are rather heavily  
scarred. Now, is that caused by a side effect of the nanotech, or is it something different?" Sara  
grinned. "Well, they manage to wreak havoc on metal detectors. The bones in my arms and legs are  
actually duraluminum. Naturally, because most of my bone marrow went with them, I have a host of  
new problems to deal with, such as an'mia."  
"Oh. Interesting. Reba, may I have copies of Sara's X-rays? I might be able to get some more  
information from them, especially when dealing with the effects her skeleton has on the rest of her  
system." Sara raised an eyebrow as Reba nodded, feeling slightly torqued about being talked about  
like she was an automation. "Gee thanks. Y'know, I'm right here. So, do you want my opinion of  
what's in my blood?" After seeing everyone nod, Sara grinned and showed off the now-visibly  
shrinking gash in her leg. "That is caused by the nanobot surplus in my blood, but basically, the metal  
content is caused by the actual frames of the machinery.  
"The isotopes are new to me, but I can probably be correct by guessing that they are the  
power sources for the machines. Now, I might suffer from a form of cancer in several years, but until  
a better power source is developed, I guess I'll have to live with the risk of chemotherapy in the  
future. Hopefully, the only thing that'll happen is that I'll be a blip on a Geiger counter." Six passed  
her hand over her mouth, trying to suppress a smile caused by the exasperated tone Sara used. Zack  
himself, despite his best efforts, was also smiling, but Reba was more interested in the almost-healed  
wound.  
"Wow. If you let me, I'd publish an article in the local Doctor's Journal, just to smash some  
of the established thinkers into their own mistakes. A lot of the older doctors don't keep up with  
current medical research, and the fact that nanotech can be used to heal rather gruesome wounds in  
less than one quarter of the time normally taken." Sara shrugged, then tried to hide the fact that she  
was totally exhausted, but failed. Reba noticed Sara trying to hide her yawn, and asked for Six and  
Zack to leave, so Sara could get enough rest. "Sara, just because your wounds regenerate quickly  
doesn't mean you get free reign of the hospital. Now, on doctor's orders, you have to go to sleep  
now. Oh, yes. I almost forgot. You are getting a double portion of the slop they call food, just  
because you're the wonder patient of the month. Good night."  
"G'night Reba, Zack. Good hunting, Six. Try not to get crippled, okay?" With that, Reba  
pushed Zack out of the door, allowing Sara and Six to exchange smiles and a handclasp just as Reba  
neatly ushered Six out the window before leaving herself, closing the door behind her, and leaving  
Sara with her thoughts for another half hour before she finally fell asleep.  
  
Next Day 


	8. Finally, Some Relaxation...

Sara woke up as Reba walked into the room at 9 in the morning and checked on her injuries.  
"Hey, keep the fingers away from the scar. How you doing today doc? Didja get some sleep last  
night?" Sara sat up in the bed, absently scratching at her shoulder until Reba noticed and slapped her  
hand. "Quit it. You'll reopen that hole in your shoulder, and I don't want to deal with having to go  
through even more stitches. Now, to answer your question; yes I got some sleep, and I'm doing fairly  
well." Sara nodded, then waited until Reba finished her inspection of the wounds. "Well, can I leave  
soon? I really want to go home, despite all the good food and such here..." Sara trailed off as Reba  
burst out laughing, then grinned.  
"I guessed that you needed a laugh, and I try to deliver. So, can I disappear? Please?" Reba  
wiped some tears from her eyes, then nodded. "Well, your injuries have healed well, and they have  
also shrunk to scrapes during the night. I have no reason to keep you hanging around any longer,  
unless you want to become a comedian here." Sara declined the offer with an eloquently raised   
finger, then smiled. "Well, considering that I don't want to be fired from my job as a teacher before  
I start, I'd better go. I'll see you in a month, or when I get shot again."  
Sara collected her clothes from the duty nurse, changed, and called Lucas, who was at the  
High School. Soon, he arrived with his sedan and drove Sara to her house. On the way, she noticed  
a large house set slightly back from the street, and asked Lucas who owned the place. "That's Dr.  
Zack's house. You may have need of his expertise in physics occasionally when you take over the bio  
classes, but be warned; he's slightly... eccentric. Rumour has it that he has a genetic laboratory in his  
basement, which has produced weird aberrations such as three-armed children."  
Sara pointed out that he was about to drive onto the sidewalk, and after he swerved back to  
the street she noticed that she was within a block of her house. "Y'know what? I'd rather walk. You  
managed to gross me out with your story." Lucas laughed at that, then puzzled over a question Sara  
shot to him. "How do I keep a moron in suspense, Lucas?" Lucas pulled into her driveway and  
parked the car before answering. "Dunno. How do you keep a moron in suspense?" Sara grinned, got  
out of the car, and told him. "I'll tell you tomorrow. See ya Lucas." She closed the door before he  
could comment, then went into her house.  
*Ah, finally. I am sooo damn happy for being back in my house right now. Now, tomorrow,  
I'm going to take over Lucas' class, and, knowing my luck, I'll probably have all the troublemakers.  
How should I take control? I could become a hellbitch and crack down on the class, or I'd be a nice  
teacher with a penchant for jokes, pranks, and actually allowing the students to have fun while  
learning. I think I'll be nice, at least until someone tries my patience a bit too often...* Sara walked  
into the living room and leaned over the couch, looking at the TV for several seconds before noticing  
that it was on.  
Looking down, she saw her friend lounging there, one arm covering her eyes. Sara, deciding  
to surprise Six, grinned, leaned over, and whispered "Happy birthday, CyberSix..." Sara moved back  
so that she wouldn't get cracked in the jaw when Six sat up, and considering that's exactly what  
happened, she was grateful for her speed. "Boo. Surprised?" Six muttered to herself for a few  
seconds, then smiled. "Well, you managed to scare the socks off of me. How'd you manage to get  
out of the hospital so soon?" Sara grinned and flopped onto the couch, narrowly missing Six's head  
with her boots.  
"I applied some 'pressure' to Reba. Basically, she decided to kick me out because my injuries  
have shrunk to almost nothing. So, how have you been doing? You went hopping around last night,  
and had an interesting conversation with me, Reba, and Doc Zack. What else didja do?" Six swung  
her feet out from under Sara and ran her hand through her hair. "Well, I ambushed a Fixed Idea about  
a half hour after I left the hospital, met with some of my friends a little later, and otherwise wreaked  
havoc upon the resident population of Technos and Ideas." Sara shook her head, smiled, and then  
nodded. "Okay, I give up on trying to keep you from bouncing around. You're free to go anytime  
you wish. Lemme see, today's the Fifteenth, right? Okay, on the Twentieth, I'll be rather busy, so  
don't try to visit, okay?"  
Six nodded, then pointed out that it was barely noon. Sara looked at the TV, noticed that Six  
was watching another show, this time detailing ancient literature. "So, what's with the show? Proving  
that you have no social life whatsoever? C'mon, let's go shopping. There's a mall about fifteen blocks  
east of here, and I made an appointment with a jeweller's there." Sara grabbed her pendant from  
where it had been lying on a small table and put it in her trenchcoat's left pocket. After putting her  
coat on, she grabbed Six's arm with an iron-like grip and simply yanked her into the garage.  
Sara dug around in a cardboard box for several seconds before handing Six a pair of old  
sneakers, then wheeled her bike out onto her driveway and waited for Six to appear. Soon, Six  
walked out of the garage, closing the door and balancing a helmet on her free hand. "Y'know, before  
we scoot along, we need to figure out a name for you to use. After all, I don't think that 'CyberSix'  
will make you any friends, and I don't want to deal with a firefight right after getting out of the  
hospital." Six grimaced, then brightened up. "Hey, how about Cyb? It's close enough to my name,  
and not many people would try to figure it out anyhow."  
"Good enough. Well, on the bike." Six got onto Sara's bike, but had difficulty with the helmet  
until Sara thunked it into place with her elbow. Sara then tied her hair back into a ponytail with a  
scrunchie, and pushed it down between her shirt and coat. She got onto the bike, gunned the engine,  
and nearly had her waist crushed when Six wrapped her arms around Sara's waist. "Ow. I don't need  
to be any thinner Six. Could you please keep from squishing me?" Six apologised and relaxed her  
grip, seconds before Sara drove out of her driveway and pulled a powerslide around the closest  
intersection, heading towards the mall at record speed.  
In less than ten minutes, Sara's waist had been compressed by almost two inches, causing  
several painful muscular cramps as her waist returned to its normal size after she parked her bike.  
After getting off, Six removed the helmet, shook her hair out, and put it on the seat as Sara pushed  
a blue button beside the speedometer, then moved to about six feet away from the bike. "What's the  
button for? ID scanner?" Sara shook her head as she fished a remote out of one of her myriad coat  
pockets and pushed the button on it. The bike honked at her, then produced a faint hum as Sara  
started to walk away. Six followed, looking slightly sceptical about whether Sara's bike would be in  
one piece when she got back to it.  
"So, how're you going to keep your bike from being collected by thieves?" Sara grinned and  
waved the remote in her hand at Six. "This little toy controls a rather powerful generator in my bike's  
engine, so if anyone decides to relieve me of my property, they'll be knocked out for about ten  
minutes because they'll be grabbing onto about ten thousand volts of electricity." Six frowned,  
wondering if Sara was considered sane, but followed Sara as she entered the mall. "Y'know Sara, I'm  
beginning to wonder if you could be considered nuts or not." Sara grinned and stopped. "The jury's  
out on that one. Okay, I'm going to wander over to the jeweller's to get my pendant repaired, so  
you're in the free and clear for about an hour. Lemme see, because I haven't converted my money  
to the stuff around here, you're getting a huge bonus because I'm giving you a thousand dollars in  
Canadian cash."  
Six's eyes nearly doubled in size as Sara handed over ten $100 bills, then slapped her on the  
shoulder and walked into the jeweller's modest store. Six stood there for a few seconds, riffling  
through the bills, then put them in the pocket of her borrowed jeans and walked into a clothing store.  
Meanwhile, Sara had finished apologising for the delay in bringing in the pendant, and was told that  
it would take about forty minutes to repair the back of the pendant while keeping the modifications  
Sara wanted. With a small invoice, to be paid when the job was finished, Sara then wandered over  
to a bookstore and browsed through all the interesting magazines on bio-research and computer  
games. She selected four magazines from the racks and a new book detailing the newest advances  
in molecular biology as well as the newest Dragonriders of Pern novel by Anne McCaffrey.  
Sara paid for her purchases, making the cashier's eyes pop out when she simply muttered for  
her to keep the change. Sara went back to the jeweller's and found out that the pendant had been  
finished, and the total cost was only a few hundred dollars. Looking at her watch after receiving the  
pendant, Sara noticed that Six should've reappeared about five minutes ago, then heard a relatively  
sizeable commotion from the clothing store where Six had wandered into a while ago. Feeling  
curious, Sara walked in there, and saw a rather obese woman try to get her poodle's teeth out of  
CyberSix's right ankle.  
Six, rather humanly, was trying to get the dog removed by turning the air around her purple  
with a rather inventive supply of long and very insulting statements, mainly calling the dog's genetic  
heritage into question. Sara helped the woman pry the dog off of Six's leg before somebody called  
security, allowed the woman to apologise about "Missy's" behaviour, and let Six pay for her  
purchases. They then left the mall and walked over to Sara's bike, both trying to figure out why that  
happened. Sara noticed the human-sized scorch mark near her bike and pointed it out to Six as she  
turned off the charge generator.  
"That person, judging from the size of the mark, is about twenty, and slightly smoking  
because he or she caught the brunt of the charge. Y'know, I think that person will quit that job and  
go into something less dangerous, such as crocodile wrestling." Six giggled at that remark and  
collapsed into utter laughter when she heard Sara's response. "Cyb, you are bubblier than a bottle of  
pop. Now, hang on a minute, and let me put my stuff into storage." Sara opened one of the twin  
leather bags near the back of the bike and put the bag of books in there, then grabbed Six's bag of  
clothes and put that into the other bag on the bike.  
She then got on the bike, let Six climb on behind her with her helmet on, then tore out of the  
parking lot at 120 kph. Soon, Sara had gotten back to her house after giving Six several grey hairs  
by powersliding through a crowded intersection before popping a wheelie over a construction pit  
taking up half of the intersection. As soon as Sara stopped the bike in her driveway, Six got off and  
let Sara calmly put her bike back in the garage before throwing the helmet at Sara. "Sara, you're  
insane. The next time you do that I'll be sure to escape at the earliest opportunity." Sara had ducked  
the helmet and waved back at Six.  
Retrieving the helmet, Sara put it on a shelf, then collected the two shopping bags and went  
inside. Seeing that Six was waiting by the door for Sara to unlock it, she grinned, thumbed her nose  
at Six through the window, then unlocked the door. Six walked in, grabbed her purchases from Sara  
and disappeared after smiling mysteriously. Sara shrugged, scratched her arm where she had been  
shot, and walked into the living room after kicking off her boots and hanging up her coat. Lounging  
across the couch, Sara managed to waste several hours by reading all the magazines as well as the  
book, then decided to find out what Six was doing.  
Sara walked up to the guest room, opened the door, and nearly had her nose cut off as Six  
slammed the door in her face. Sara knocked on the door, and decided to try and convince Six to  
appear before she had to break out the master key. "Hey Six, why don't you open the door and show  
me what you're trying to do? I could help y'know." Sara heard Six chuckle from the other side of the  
door, and grinned. "Okay, so you won't let me in. Fine then, I'll just wait out here." Sara, instead of  
waiting, went down to where she had put her coat, and collected the pendant. Putting it on, she let  
it settle into the hollow between her collarbones, then looked at herself in the mirror. *Nice. I'll just  
keep wearing this for a few years, especially because it's got that ruby in it.*  
Sara then took off the pendant and looked at the back, noticing the small hole where the  
subvocal mike would be placed, and the small hinges allowing it to open up so she could insert the  
mike. Sara collected the mike from her basement room, inserted it in the pendant, and managed to  
test it out with no problems. Very quickly, Sara checked through her armour's abilities, ranging from  
creating weapons out of its own mass to becoming the equivalent of tank armour. Later, Sara was  
back in the living room, wearing the pendant and a purplish belt, wrapped diagonally across her slim  
waist.  
Sara then returned to Six's door, and trying the knob, found that it was unlocked. She opened  
the door carefully, poked her head in, and quite neatly got nailed in the face with a pillow. "Six,  
why'd you do that? I only wanted to show you my stuff." Sara got sick of hearing Six laughing at her,  
so she threw the pillow back to her, and sat down on the bed. Six looked at Sara, wearing her  
baseball cap, a black t-shirt, and cargo pants, then she noticed the gold pendant and belt and whistled  
faintly. "Wow. How much did the necklace cost? Two thousand? Three?" Sara smiled, shook her  
head, and replied, "Twenty Thousand." Six nearly had a heart attack.  
"Twenty Thousand Dollars? Where did you buy it?" Sara grinned and gestured for Six to sit  
down. "Canada. Here, that would cost almost Thirty thou." Six's eyes goggled for a second, then she  
calmed down and nodded towards the belt. "That belt looks good on you. What's it made of?" Sara  
passed a hand over her mouth, then decided to reply truthfully. "It's a titanium polymer, which I've  
implanted a program into, allowing me to turn it into a gym-style leotard when necessary. I swear,  
this may be expensive, but I think that the Hundred Thousand dollars I handed over for this is worth  
it." Sara smiled and let Six grumble about never having enough money to buy any of the really  
interesting stuff.  
*What you'll never know is that it cost me a half-million dollars, and actually can do a lot  
more than just what I've told you. Thankfully, my subvocal mike works and is impossible to remove  
from the pendant now. The only thing that worries me right now is that I lost the knife that African  
shaman gave me two years ago. He said that it was called 'Dudu Ya Poidini' and the translation  
meant 'Hunter of Souls'. I think it's hiding in my closet, but I'm not sure.* Sara pulled herself out  
of her thoughts as Six snapped her fingers in front of her face, and wondered aloud what Six had got  
from the store.  
Six smiled and showed Sara a dress, approximately thigh-length and dyed a deep wine red,  
then produced a pearl and crystal necklace that accented Six's neck and face when she put it on.  
"Wow. Now that makes you look amazing. Y'know, if we ever went to a formal ball, we'd probably  
be able to triple the blood pressure of every male attendee just by showing up." Six laughed at the  
mental image, then put the dress and necklace back in the shopping bag. "I have to agree that seeing  
a bunch of old men have heart attacks at the sight of us in dresses, wearing those pieces of jewellery,  
would be pretty funny. However, I don't think that we'd do that anytime soon. Maybe when someone  
like Zack throws a party."  
Sara snorted at that idea, mainly because she had mentally catalogued every visible defence   
at or around Zack's house and had come to the conclusion that he was totally paranoid. "Sure, that'll  
happen at the same time as me being kicked out of Hell for unnecessary roughness. Well, it's almost  
Seven, so we've managed to miss the news, and I think I'll need to pull out a pair of glasses soon if  
I want to do any reading within the next half hour. Now, knowing you, I'm going to have to cook  
supper unless we want to eat out. C'mon downstairs in about twenty minutes and I'll see what I can  
whip up." Six simply retorted with, "So long as you don't produce those bioweapons that you call  
food, I'm game."  
"Hey! Those bioweapons have saved my health more times than I can remember. Besides, if  
you put one on a plate outside of your door, it'll keep anyone out of your room for at least two  
days." Six laughed because Sara said it with a tone of intense relief. "I guess that you must have had  
a few harrowing moments in university." Sara grinned and rubbed her arm. "Actually, I volunteered  
as an escort because I was known as the nastiest person to get into a fight into. After all, when  
someone had to pick his teeth out of the back of his throat after trying to harass me, I sorta got the  
reputation of being a force of nature."  
"I can see you being a force of nature, but do you have to be so descriptive? Even if the  
person deserved it, you managed to turn my stomach with that description, notwithstanding the fact  
that you were smiling when you said it." Six shuddered faintly, then shook it off and decided to walk  
downstairs. "Hey Sara, while you're cooking, do you mind if I take a look at those books you  
bought? They may be interesting." Sara grinned, got up from the bed, and challenged Six to a race  
downstairs. Taking up the challenge, Six slid down the bannister as Sara ran to about halfway down  
the steps before vaulting over the rail, landing on the floor just as Six landed on her feet and nearly  
skidded into the foyer before getting her balance back.  
"Sucker. Looks like you ah... slipped up? Get over here and sit down." Six, grumbling slightly  
about being caught in a tie, walked over to Sara, and helped her up. "What happened to you?" Sara  
swore faintly before straightening her right leg, and Six heard the dull thump as the bones popped  
back into their normal place. "Ow. That is a minor side effect that I occasionally have to deal with.  
Simply, ligaments do not like being reconnected to bones, artificial or not. The most obvious effect  
is that I can now be considered totally double-jointed because I can dislocate just about every bone  
in my body, but only with a fair amount of pain."  
"Gross. Sometimes, I'm utterly amazed at your resilience, but I'm proven otherwise when  
something like this happens. Well, you decided to cook, but if you don't want to move I'll try." Sara  
limped into the kitchen at a speed that surprised Six, then explained why. "I don't need even more  
scorch marks in my house, and besides, knowing you, you'd probably try to sneak a way to get some  
takeout anyhow. So, sit down somewhere, and I'll whip up something nasty or nice." Six kept the  
fear of Sara's cooking from showing on her face, and quietly sat down on the couch.  
Within twenty minutes, Sara had whipped up two of her deadly sandwiches, and, after putting  
one on a plate in front of Six, proceeded to polish her own off in less than five minutes, despite the  
massive size. By that time, Six had managed to gather enough courage to poke at the sandwich, and  
when her finger didn't fall off, she tried it. "Wow! That is a hot sandwich! What did you do? Add  
jalape¤o peppers to it?" Sara grinned and nodded, then went back into the kitchen before Six could  
retaliate. Soon, Sara returned with two large glasses of juice to help cool off the feeling of having her  
tongue burned off, and gave one to Six.  
"Thanks. Just wondering, but what are you going to do tomorrow?" Sara took a swig of her  
juice, then responded. "Well, I'm taking over Lucas' biology class, and will probably be stuck in it  
for several hours afterwards, but I might be able to make some time at around Five PM. Why do you  
ask? Are you planning something?" Six smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm not planning to wreak  
havoc on your life. One of my friends has heard a bit about you through a phone conversation I had  
with him yesterday, and he wants to meet you in a Caf‚ near the high school at around that time. Oh  
yeah, his name's Adrian Seidelman."   
Sara raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "Well, considering what I heard from Lori, Lucas will  
probably be around as well. I think I'll finalize the details with him. Y'know, I'm thinking of going  
to sleep early, just because I'm not totally recovered from the last few days. Six looked at the clock,  
saw that it was getting close to Nine PM, and nodded. "Well, I'm planning on going to my own  
home, which is probably covered in dust by now, at around Ten. I may see you on Sunday." Sara  
nodded, collected the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, then went upstairs to her room.  
After selecting her clothing for tomorrow, namely a pair of long silk pants, a long shirt, with  
her pendant and purple belt, Sara climbed into her bed, turned off the light, and fell asleep with a  
smile playing around her face for an unknown reason...  
  
Next Day 


	9. First Day Back at School!?

Waking up twenty minutes before she had to be at the School, Sara tore around the house like  
a dervish, choosing to wear a fairly classy pantsuit that made her look slightly older than what she  
appeared to be. *Some times I hate looking like I'm only 22, especially because I'm 27. Oh well, at  
least I'll be able to piss off some people...* She had gotten dressed and had placed all the requisite  
books on biology in one of her bike's saddlebags in less than ten minutes, and had enough time to  
have a slab of toast before breaking every speed limit between her house and the School. Parking her  
bike, and activating the charge generator to discourage thieves or vandals, she ran into the school  
carrying the bag with all the books.  
Skidding into the main office, she nodded to the receptionist, who was still blowing smoke  
rings, grinned and waved at the vice-principal, and discreetly knocked on the door to the Principal's  
office. "Who is it?" was heard from the other side of the heavy oak door, and Sara replied truthfully.  
"Alright, come in." Sara opened the door to see the principal sitting in his leather swivel chair, and  
was faintly surprised to see a young black-haired teacher sitting in one of the two other chairs in the  
room. Sara scrutinised the teacher, noting the glasses, the thin hands, and the very baggy clothes. Her  
scrutiny was interrupted when the young man stood up and offered his hand. "Hi. My name's Adrian  
Seidelman. How are you doing?"  
Sara stammered a reply, caught off guard by how much Adrian resembled one of the orphans  
that lived in her memories. "I-I'm sorry, but you resemble one of my friends from a long time ago.  
Did you ever have relatives that lived in Canada? No, never mind. Just some idle curiosity. So, what  
class do you teach?" Adrian smiled lightly and nodded towards the door as the principal gave both  
people folders loaded with papers. Sara let herself be ushered out of the office, and as Adrian and she  
squirmed through the throngs of students, they still managed to carry a conversation. "So, how long  
have you been working here?" Adrian shrugged as he dodged three small students that charged down  
the hall. "About three and a half years. Classes have become a lot less hectic because most of the  
worst students have either graduated or been transferred to 'less dangerous' schools."  
Sara snorted at that one, then had to dodge into the middle of the hall to avoid being nailed  
in the ribs by a student's backpack, accidentally brushing across Adrian's shirt sleeve. Adrian pulled  
away from the point of contact, and Sara paused, confused. Shrugging it off, Sara continued on to  
the room she was going to take over, and privately entertained thoughts of how to keep the students  
occupied in class. "Oh yes, one of my friends showed up last night, and said that you'd like to talk  
with me for a while after school." Adrian nodded, then pointed at the room opposite of the stairwell.  
"I'll be able to talk at lunch hour, but right now I have to make sure that nobody has managed to  
destroy the class. I'll see you later."  
Sara nodded and walked over to the class that she was taking over, avoiding a cluster of thugs  
standing around Lori. Opening the door to the classroom, Sara instantly noticed that Lucas was  
sitting in the chair behind the teacher's desk, apparently waiting for her. "So, why are you sitting  
around here? I thought you've been reassigned to chemistry." Lucas smiled, then pointed at a stack  
of textbooks and other random paraphernalia. "You'll need most of those books in order to survive  
your first day. Also, I think you should've worn a suit of bomb squad armour instead of what appears  
to be silk." Sara chuckled and pulled a deck of cards from a pocket in her coat. "Don't underestimate  
me. You saw what I am capable of two days ago. I think I'll be able to keep the kids in line."  
Lucas nodded, then decided to vacate the seat before Sara used one of the cards on him.  
"Okay then. Just don't come running to me when they blow up the desk." Sara shooed him out of the  
room by flipping three cards around between the fingers of her left hand. "Git ye gone little boy, or  
I'll have to hamstring you. I'll see you at lunch hour." Lucas grinned and walked out, allowing Sara  
to put her coat in the small closet, and leave her bag there as well. Just as she sat down in the chair,  
the bell rang, allowing a swarm of students to invade the classroom. Some of them stopped cold,  
wondering if they were in the right room, but entered after checking the number on the door. After  
the morning announcements were out of the way, and the anthem was over and done with, Sara  
finished the attendance form, gave it to a student to put in the office, and leaned back, waiting for the  
second bell to ring so she could get down to business.  
As if her wishes would be totally granted, the bell rang and the students filed out, most  
looking like they were going into their version of hell. *Poor kids, almost a month into the curriculum  
and they get a change in teachers. Their loss, my gain.* Sara flipped through the folder that the  
principal had given her, and was slightly surprised to find detailed dossiers on every student in the  
subsequent classes. *Heh. Lori will be in the first class, and I think that those thugs surrounding her  
will also be in here. If they disregard what I say, well, there's always the physical evidence on me.  
Hello, this person may be interesting. 'Hazel Smith' eh? Lemme see, sporadic attendance, disappears  
for up to a week at a time, and shows amazing intelligence and insight into other people's actions  
when she does anything at all. Okay, I might be dealing with a problem student here.*  
Sara looked up as a cluster of students squeezed into the room, looking like they were either  
half-asleep or utterly apathetic. After the cluster squeezed its way into the desks, Erin Cheng walked  
in, smiling and bright-eyed, and perched on a stool in the back of the class, binder open and sitting  
on her lap. Sara waited until everyone had found a seat, and then looked up from the folder and  
glanced at each student in the room. "Okay kids, before you ask, I'm your new teacher. Lucas has  
been reassigned to Chemistry, so some of you will manage to laugh as he accidentally creates  
nitroglycerin and blasts a hole through the wall."  
Sara let everyone laugh at that one, then called the class to order. "Now, because I'm  
somewhat unfamiliar with your curriculum, today is basically 'question the rookie day'. So, how do  
you want to pester me?" Sara sat back, looked at the class, then pointed at Erin as she raised her  
hand. "Okay kiddo, shoot." Erin glanced at the rest of the class before speaking. "Well, I'm probably  
the only person who knows something about you, so I think you could tell the class a bit about  
yourself." Sara looked at the class, and seeing the looks of agreement, sighed slightly and nodded.  
"Okay then. Lemme see, I was born in Canada, led an utterly uneventful life until university, and had  
to deal with a sickness that sidelined me for several months. I never truly recovered from that, and  
that's why I'm so damn thin.  
"Oh yes, I've managed to travel through most of Europe, Asia, and the Americas for the last  
four years because of my previous job as a biologist. Any other questions?" The class remained silent  
long enough to hear an echoing rumble come from the chemistry classroom, allowing Sara to excuse  
herself. Sara walked over to the chem room, and opened the door just in time to be met by a faceful  
of chlorine gas. Coughing and gagging, Sara pulled her shirt up to cover her nose and mouth, and  
went inside to see if anyone was in the room. She soon found Lucas lying beside a beaker, so she  
grabbed him by the scruff of his coat and pulled him out of the room.  
She went back in and opened both windows before dropping the beaker that was still  
producing the gas out the window, allowing it to shatter on the pavement below. Turning back to the  
rest of the classroom, Sara used the emergency eye wash station to get any remnants of the gas out  
of her eyes. Then, after making sure that Lucas was alive, she went back to her own classroom.  
Looking in, she threw six cards at the two students that were arm wrestling in the back of the room  
near the python. "Hey kids, eyes front. Now, before anyone asks anything about what happened, I'll  
tell you. Lucas, being the dumbass he is, managed to produce a beaker of chlorine gas. Naturally, I  
had to save his ass and disposed of the toxic stuff.  
"By tomorrow, he'll be back, and somewhat worse for the wear." Sara returned to her seat  
behind her desk, then sniffed at her shirt sleeve. "Well, dammit. I guess I'm going to have to burn this  
because the gas has managed to totally wreck the fabric. So, any more questions for me?" Lori stood  
up and wiggled her hand in the air. "Okay teach, here's one for ya: How much wood could a  
woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" Sara smiled and waved Lori down. "Thirteen-  
eighths its body mass per hour. Any other dumb questions?" Lori looked slightly flustered due to the  
flip answer given to her, so she went into a quick conference with her three friends. One of the  
students who had been arm-wrestling, and currently nursing a nicked finger raised his hand.  
After Sara nodded at him, he pulled one of the three cards from the laminated top of his desk  
and showed it to her. "Just wondering, but how are you able to throw cards like that, and how old  
is this one? It looks like those death card props from Apocalypse Now." Sara flipped another card  
around the knuckles of her right hand for a few seconds before responding. "I said that I was  
sidelined by a disease, but what I didn't say was that it was bad enough for me to be hospitalized for  
about two-thirds of that time. I learned how to express my displeasure at the Canadian medical  
services non-vocally by using a deck of cards to terrorize the nurses I despised.  
"Those cards however, are not props, but an actual deck of Death Cards from 'Nam. They  
were for the Second Airborne, but were never used because they pulled out only two weeks into their  
tour. I would love to have the cards back at the end of class though, and instead of detentions, people  
will have to run the risk of being cut up by those edges." Sara let the class pass the cards forwards,  
then wondered how long the rest of the day was going to take. Glancing at the clock, she saw that  
first period was almost over, so she let the students out a few minutes early. After the students filed  
out to get snacks from the vending machines, Sara walked over to where she had propped Lucas up  
against the wall, and woke him up by dropping a thermos full of hot chocolate into his lap.  
"Ooof! Who did that? Why am I out in the hallway?" Sara bent over and snapped her fingers  
in front of his face for a few seconds, then sat down on the opposite side of the hall. "Well, I did that  
in order to wake you up, and get something in your system to counteract the chlorine gas you inhaled.  
Also, you're in the hallway because somehow you were stupid enough to produce enough chlorine  
gas to knock you out. The only reason why you're still alive is because I pulled your ass out of there  
before you suffered irreparable damage to your lungs." Lucas coughed experimentally into his hand,  
looked at the resultant mess, and shrugged.  
"Well, that really sucks. I was planning on tampering with your bike, just to make people  
wonder what your machine uses for fuel. I guess it didn't go as planned." Sara kicked Lucas' shin and  
chuckled. "Well, considering that if you touched my bike you'd have been knocked out for about ten  
minutes. After all, only I get to tamper with my machine. Now, because you admitted that a prank  
had backfired, I may as well tell you what my current prank is." Lucas took a swig of the hot  
chocolate, grimaced at the bitter flavour, then took another swig. "So, what is it?" Sara grinned. "I  
laced the chocolate with Ex-Lax. Have a good day."  
Sara got up and walked back to her classroom, chased by a flurry of swear words from Lucas'  
general direction. *Heh. That was too easy. Too bad for him, especially because I didn't do anything  
of the sort. Maybe I should do something along the lines of vehicular mayhem. I really don't like the  
fact that his car is unicolor. Maybe I'll use my bike to give it a racing stripe down the middle.* Sara  
relaxed, and let the rest of the day's routine slide by like water around a stone until lunch hour rolled  
around. As the last class of the morning left, Sara leaned back, cracked her spine, and walked down  
to the school yard.  
Arriving in the yard, she saw Lori and her pack of goons trying to extort money out of several  
younger students, so Sara walked over and let her shadow fall over Lori's back. "Y'know, I really  
think you should be somewhere else Lori, especially because Lucas is also watching." Lori grumbled  
a bit but gave the students back their money. However, one of her lackeys turned to Sara, jabbed his  
middle finger in the air and yelled. "Well, fuck you too bitch!" As he finished speaking, he swung his  
hand forwards, trying to clout Sara in the chest. Sara automatically sidestepped the blow, and as she  
dodged the swing, she grabbed his arm and used his momentum to flip him over her hip and land flat  
on his back on the pavement.  
Sara kneeled down beside him and looked into his eyes. "You made a big mistake. Now, go  
inside and explain to the principal how you got a two-day detention." Sara stood up, helped the boy  
up, then spun him around once and shoved him towards the front door of the school. Lori looked like  
she was going to spit razor blades, but remained silent when Sara shot her a glare. "Lori, keep your  
minions under control, or I'm going to have to systematically wreak havoc on your so-called gang."  
Sara then walked over to where Lucas was leaning against a tree, eating an apple. When she arrived  
under the canopy of orange leaves, Sara sighed and sat down on a bench near the large trunk.  
"Please, remind me why I tolerate those morons. I can't believe that boy. Trying to throw a  
punch at a teacher is not high on the list of self-preservation." Lucas finished the apple he was eating  
and threw the core towards a squirrel that was begging for some food. "Well, I think you tolerate  
them because you want to be a good teacher and not show any favouritism. Also, Sam always tries  
to throw his weight around. You're the only person smaller than him who beat him that quickly.  
Everyone else has either failed or taken several minutes.  
"Actually, I think many teachers would like to learn some martial arts of any form in order  
to keep the really rowdy students in their place. Heck, even I'd love to try out something like that."  
Sara nodded, then smiled. "Well, if the teachers agree, I'll start up a mini school for teaching the  
teachers something like Aikido or Karate." Lucas grinned and shook her hand, allowing the ring  
buzzer to work its magic. "HEY! Lucas, that was cheap. I haven't done anything to you, except make  
a false implication about Ex-Lax."  
Lucas smiled, then took off the buzzer. "Okay, I admit that it was slightly cheap, but I have  
to wonder what you're planning to do next." Sara looked at him cooly, letting her eyes measure him  
up. "As mentioned, I'm going to see if the other teachers would like to learn some self-defence. To  
be honest, I don't think you'll ever get past a yellow belt in any professionally operated Dojo." Lucas  
grimaced at the candid explanation of his apparent skills, then brightened up as he saw Adrian  
Seidelman walking towards him.  
"Well, if it isn't the one person almost every student likes. How're you doing Adrian?" Lucas  
rubbed his right hand through his hair, then smiled slightly. "Hello Lucas. It seems that our newest  
teacher has managed to not only save your life from a beakerful of chlorine gas, but has also caused  
some nasty ripples in Lori's gang. How is it that someone who probably weighs a hundred pounds  
sopping wet managed to utterly defeat Sam in less than three seconds?" Sara grinned and let Lucas  
talk. "Well, apparently, our friend here has enough knowledge of the martial arts to be capable of  
some very fast moves that ended with Sam flat on his back with her fingers about to squash his  
windpipe."  
Sara shook her head slightly and chimed in before Lucas embellished too much. "Actually,  
Lucas, I used his mass and momentum against him. He just flipped over, landed on his back, and I  
gave him a warning and two day's detention for attempting to assault a teacher. That's what  
happened, nothing more or less." Lucas grinned sheepishly at his embellishments, then saw something  
at the other side of the school yard, near the parking lot. Excusing himself, he walked into the lot,  
leaving Sara and Adrian alone. Sara motioned for Adrian to take a seat, then leaned back, allowing  
her spine to crack in three places. Ignoring Adrian's wince of pain, Sara finished the stretch, then  
leaned forwards and poked at a small nick on the palm of her hand.  
"So, how's school life treating you?" Adrian was studying Sara with his eyes, despite the fact  
that they were obscured by a pair of oval sunglasses. Sara shrugged and glanced at a group of young  
students pointing at her and giggling. "Well, it could always be better. After all, I haven't gotten an  
accurate 'read' on the students in my classes, but some of them are somewhat interesting." Adrian  
chuckled at Sara's tone of voice, but was cut off by the bell. Sara grimaced, then stood up. "Well,  
time to put my nose in front of the grindstone again. I'll see you after school.""Okay then, just let me  
tell you where the Caf‚ is." Adrian pointed out the directions, then walked into the school. Sara also  
walked into the school, went back to the classroom, and waited for then next group of victi- er,  
students.  
Within two hours, she nearing the end of her mental fuse when the last class finally left.  
*Whew. I'm glad that's over. Well, time to take up Adrian's offer, but he said Five in the afternoon,  
and it's only Three. Well, I may as well clean up this place, and check on Lucas' classroom.* Sara  
cleaned the few critter cages, gagging on the stench from the corner where the lab rats had been  
hiding for the last few weeks, then put some old books away. She then retrieved her cards from where  
they had landed, and walked over to the chem room.  
Looking inside, Sara saw a thin haze of smoke floating around the ceiling, so she took a deep  
breath before walking in. Looking around, she saw an almost-totally destroyed workbench, with  
some sort of liquid dripping from the badly corroded ends. *Gross. I'm not even going to touch that  
one* Sara walked around the desk, careful to avoid the globs of acid that were slowly eating through  
the floor. "Dammit Lucas, what did you do?" Sara walked over to where she heard a muffled groan,  
and dug through the heap of textbooks until she unearthed Lucas. "Well, it seems that you've  
managed to get dangerously close to another Darwin award my so-called friend."  
Lucas groaned as he slowly regained consciousness, so Sara dragged him into the hallway and  
held his nose for a few seconds to wake him up. "What?" Lucas grumbled slightly as he stood up and  
staggered around slightly before finding his sense of balance sitting on one of the benches. Sara  
grimaced as she pointed at the remains of the bench. "Looks like one of your experiments decided  
to retaliate against the desk. C'mon, let's get out of here before the janitors come running." Sara and  
Lucas walked downstairs, scribbled their names on the teacher's sign-out sheet in the main office, and  
walked into the parking lot.  
Sara disarmed her bike's charge generator and started it up. Shouting to be heard over the  
engine's growl, Sara asked Lucas which car was his. He pointed at the red sedan on the opposite side  
of the lot, and shouted something about her already knowing which one it was, so why the  
confirmation? Sara let her actions respond to Lucas' question, and drove through the lot to in front  
of Lucas' car. Turning her bike, she then drove directly over Lucas' car, and smoked her tires on the  
way, leaving a straight black line going down the middle of his once-bright red car.  
Sara drove past Lucas as he ran to his car, and ignoring his very loud cry of anguish, she tore  
out of the lot to her house so she could drop off most of the extraneous stuff that she thought she  
wouldn't need. After dropping off the pile of books, Sara checked the time, saw that she had twenty  
minutes, and decided that there was enough time to change into something that didn't smell like  
chlorine. *Damn Lucas for being stupid enough to try a prank like that. Well, I may as well try to  
remain sane as long as possible so I should go for that invite now.* Sara finished changing into her   
normal clothes, then drove back to the Caf‚.  
Walking inside, she saw Lucas and Adrian sitting at a table, looking out the window at the  
giant statue, still visible even in the growing darkness. Sara walked over and tapped Lucas on the  
shoulder. "G'day Lucas, Adrian. Sorry about the alterations on your car, but I do think that it looks  
cooler with the new racing stripe down the middle." Lucas growled slightly, but calmed down when  
Adrian gestured towards the empty seat. Sara took the seat, and looked at the massive open space  
in front of Lucas. "So, what are you planning to eat? A wild aurochs?" Lucas grinned, but shook his  
head. "Only my usual meal." Sara chuckled at that, and wondered what his average bill per day for  
food was.  
Adrian had ordered a burger and fries, and Sara went for the grass steer sandwich and a bottle  
of Dragon's Breath. While waiting for the order, Lucas regaled them with a relatively funny story  
about one of the things Lori did to a teacher she had absolutely despised. After the food arrived, Sara  
noticed that Lucas was going to tuck into a plateful of spaghetti, two burgers, a small mountain of  
fries, and a half-pitcher of beer. Raising an eyebrow, Sara glanced at Adrian, and stage whispered  
"That's his usual? No wonder he looks like a pregnant beer-barrel." Adrian, hearing this, tried to keep  
from breaking out in laughter and nearly choked on the fries he had just started on.  
Sara tried out the sandwich and found that it was actually pretty good, but nowhere near what  
her mother could do with the same materials. Still, she finished off the sandwich, and her beer at the  
same time as Lucas finished off his last fry. *Gah. I really have to wonder how it's possible for  
someone to eat like that and not choke. Well, it's going to be one of Ripley's Believe it or Not  
sometime.* Lucas leaned backwards in his seat, causing it to creak dangerously before turning his  
attention to the nearby TV, which was playing another of the constant soccer matches.  
Sara watched with a little interest, mainly because she had a greater interest in hockey.  
Focussing on Adrian, Sara managed to cause him to bust out laughing by theorizing on Lucas' ability  
to eat so much without having a stomach the size of a small building. Sara saw Lucas wince, and  
looked at the instant replay on the TV, just in time to see one of the home team's players get booted  
in the groin by what appeared to be the Incredible Hulk in a soccer uniform. *Ouch. He's not going  
to get up anytime soon* Sara shot a glance at Adrian, who was also watching the replay, and noticed  
that he didn't so much as blink at the impact.  
*Okay, either Adrian has nerves of stone, or he's not what he appears to be. Naahhh... I really  
doubt that.* Sara ordered another beer, and as Lucas continued to shout at the TV, Sara continued  
to talk to Adrian. As darkness fell over the city, the three people talked about their pasts, and some  
plans for the future. Eventually Sara looked at her watch and mentally swore. *Wow. It's already  
Eight-Thirty. We've been talking for almost three and a half hours. I really should go home and  
continue on my little plot to make my students have fun in class, even while learning.*  
Sara leaned backwards in her seat, making Adrian wince at the impending pop, but Sara  
relaxed slightly before the point where that could occur and put her hands on the table, palms down.  
"Well, I really need to get home so I can finish the revisions to the curriculum." Sara nodded towards  
Lucas, then after nearly being knocked from her seat by a negligent wave, she shook hands with  
Adrian and left a small stack of bills to pay for the meal. Adrian saw that the small heap was made  
up of Canadian currency, so he quickly counted it and raised an eyebrow at the final count.  
Sara had already walked out of the Caf‚, and Adrian soon heard Sara's bike roar out of the  
parking lot. Adrian looked at Lucas as he roared at the soccer players and thought about what Sara  
had said during the conversation between them about one of Lucas' stranger escapades.  
  
Meanwhile, Back in Jose's Mansion   
  
The large double doors to Jose's room were knocked open by a sliding body, startling Jose from the  
porn magazine he was reading as the poor victim flashed into vapour. A shadowy form stood in the  
doorway, then walked into the room, revealing long brown hair, what looked like an armband made  
of a grey metal covering the right forearm, and wearing a long black trenchcoat. Jose smirked at the  
sight, then bowed mockingly. "Welcome, M-17. It seems you've managed to work out your  
frustrations about being called from your mourning, so let me give you-kkk"   
Jose suddenly shut up as M-17 rushed up to him and grabbed his throat. "I will never stop  
mourning. Now, if you want to retain your ribs, I recommend you never bring that subject up again."  
M-17 let Jose go, and let him massage his throat to get his breathing under control. "Well now, I  
want you to pull bodyguard duty on the Twentieth of this month. I'm going into the city to try and  
make an agreement with some bounty hunters and some of them are known as being, well,  
unbalanced. Also, after the bodyguard duty, I want you to find this person and capture or kill her."  
Jose showed M-17 the security photo of Sara, then smiled when she nodded and crushed the picture.  
"Consider her dead." 


	10. School again...

Next Day   
  
Sara woke up at almost Six in the morning, and after having a shower and a small breakfast, she burrowed through some of the unopened boxes she had lying around her house, and eventually found the foot-long knife she had gained as a gift from a tribe of African natives that had been suffering from the depredations of slavers. Looking at the knife and its matching sheath, Sara remembered back when she had worn her body armour daily as a matter of necessity instead of preference. She shook off the memories, then got dressed in some semi-casual clothing, mainly a long skirt and blouse. As a precaution, Sara strapped the knife to her right calf, and felt slightly reassured by the weight of the sheath running along the muscle.  
She then put her boots on, grabbed the binders where she had been planning the curriculum for most of the night, and planted the binders in the leather bag she had used yesterday. Sara looked at the clock, noticed that it was almost Eight, and smiled. *Well, onwards to the class. Oh yeah, I need a potato, just to torture Lucas.* Sara turned back into her house, rooted around in the kitchen, and went back to her bike, stuffing a potato into one of the pockets on the left side of her coat. She drove to the school relatively slowly, and arrived twenty minutes before the first bell. Sara instantly noticed that Lucas' car still had the racing stripe, and just to add insult to injury, she took the potato out of her coat pocket and stuffed the fairly large spud into his car's tailpipe.  
Sara activated her bike's anti-theft system, then walked into the office, greeting a few of the other teachers as she went to the teacher's mailbox system and collected the in-class announcements. Sara had gotten up to her class before the bell had rang, and read the announcements to herself. She raised her eyebrows at some of the dumber ones, and decided to pencil in some changes, just to make them slightly more humourous. After finishing her alterations, Sara looked up and noticed a young girl with dark hair, about shoulder length, and with differently coloured eyes. One was a dark shade of brown, but the other's iris was almost completely red. "Yes? How can I help you?"  
Sara swung her feet off the desk, and let the girl speak. "Umm, I'm wondering where Lucas went. After all, this is his classroom." Sara smiled and leaned her elbows on the desk. "Sorry, but Lucas has been reassigned to the chemistry home room, and is also the school's newest chem teacher. So, what's your name?" The girl smiled slightly, and looked at the desk for a few seconds. "I'm Hazel Smith. Sorry about missing the shakedown yesterday." Sara smiled faintly, then pointed at the nearest empty desk. "So Hazel, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself, unless you want to torment the token Canadian..." Hazel laughed at Sara's tone, then nodded. "Well, from the accent, you're definitely not a Yank, and you said it yourself: you're Canadian. So, where's the kindness gene?"  
Sara barely kept from busting out laughing, then wagged her finger at Hazel. "Well, I see you've managed to hear about that legend. Sorry, but it skipped a generation." Hazel raised an eyebrow, then asked another question. "Okay then, why did you come here? I think you'd be more comfortable in -20 degrees than here." Sara grinned. "Nope, I came here to get away from Canada. After all, this place is the direct opposite of Ottawa." A brief shadow flitted across Sara's face as she spoke, and she didn't expand on the subject. Hazel was about to ask another question, but the bell rang and Sara gathered together the books necessary for the first period.  
"Sorry Hazel. I'll probably be able to talk to you at lunch." Hazel nodded, then walked out of the classroom into the swarm of dejected students trudging down the hallway. Sara sorted the books on her desk, then opened the attendance binder as the home room class walked in and planted themselves in their desks. After the usual anthem and PA announcements, Sara took the class attendance, read the most relevant announcements from the sheet, and caused the class to chuckle with an old joke she had remembered the night before. After the bell rang, Sara got the books ready for Lori's class, and she silently thanked whatever higher powers existed that it was only a single period this morning. As her first class trudged in, Sara noticed that a few looked inordinately pleased with themselves, so she expected the worst.  
Sara was not disappointed, because as she was starting the in-class work, she heard a loud explosion from the direction of the main office, and then had to answer the intercom as the students sniggered. "Hello, this is the bio class... Oh? Well, I'm sorry but she's been with me for the last oh, half-hour now. I see. Thank you. Bye." Sara hung up, walked back to the front of the class and pointed at Lori. "Miss Anderson, you owe me royally for keeping the principal off your back. However, I have to question your sanity. Seriously, did you have to use a watermelon? I could've done the same thing with a cantaloupe, and caused more damage."  
Lori's jaw, by then, had hit the desk and she was wondering why any teacher would do that. Sara grinned to herself at Lori's reaction, then continued with the class. Soon, Sara had half the class wondering whether she was sane, and the other half almost falling out of their seats with laughter. Soon, Lucas' head popped through the door, and he looked around at the class, barely keeping from breaking out in total laughter, then at Sara, who was going through a presentation from her university days about basic biology. Lucas heard Sara speak, and understood why the class was laughing. "Now, this picture shows what happens when a human's biological system is influenced by vast quantities of alcohol and a minimum amount of sleep."  
She flipped a picture of herself and Lucas onto the overhead, and it showed the two in the middle of a party, with Lucas crashed out on a couch, topless, and Sara sitting beside him, holding a keg and wearing a pair of shorts and a 'party naked' t-shirt. Sara smiled slightly, then pointed out the obvious effects of intoxication on a human being by pointing out Lucas' cherry red nose, lack of consciousness, and several other minor effects, such as the fact that he had made a total ass of himself before falling asleep. By then, the entire class was laughing at Lucas' expense, and nobody except Lori and Hazel noticed the pale white lines running the length of Sara's arms in the picture.  
After class, when almost all the students had managed to stand up unassisted and had left the room, Lori walked to Sara's desk. "Yes Lori? Didja have a problem with my presentation?" Lori shook her head, then spoke. "No, your presentation was a riot. I'm wondering about two things though. First, why did you cover for me when the little prank I had left for the principal went off?" Sara smiled. "Well, just between us, I don't want you telling Lucas about the potato I put in his car's exhaust pipe. That's why I got you off the hook. So, do we have an agreement?" Lori nodded, then pointed at the overhead.  
"Well, I won't tell Lucas about the prank you're going to pull on him, in gratitude for pulling me out of the line of fire, but here's the second question. What's with the lines along your arms in the overhead?" Sara frowned slightly, then looked at Lori silently. Sighing, Sara leaned back in her seat. "Well, I guess it's slightly safe to tell you." Sara then rolled up her right shirt-sleeve, revealing the long white scar running along the groove between the long muscles. "That was caused by a major surgery a few months before the party in the photo." Lori looked up for permission, and at Sara's nod, she traced the line of the scar with her finger. "Wow. I thought it was an error on the picture, but... hey, you said something about a surgery yesterday, right?"  
Sara nodded, then told Lori to scoot before the younger students appeared as she rolled down her sleeve. Lori left, looking vaguely unsatisfied with Sara's answers, but she didn't want to be swarmed by the next class. Sara continued making the classes crack up as the morning went by, and kept a lot of variety in the jokes and other parts of the basic presentation, which was about the effects of different substances on the human mind and body. By the time lunch hour had rolled around, Sara was tired but happy, and she decided that a short walk would revitalize her. She went to the main yard, and after chuckling at the antics of some of the younger students, she went over to the bench under the tree where she had talked with Adrian yesterday.  
Sitting down, Sara watched as Lucas walked over to her, and smiled faintly as he was forced to dodge a group of seven students chasing a soccer ball around the yard. "So, how's your class?" Lucas smiled lightly at Sara's question, then pointed at a purple bruise partially hidden by his hairline. "Ow. How did that happen? Fall off a ladder?" Lucas nodded, then frowned slightly as Sara passed her hand over her mouth to hide the laughter threatening to bubble over. "Seriously, how'd it happen?" Lucas sat down on the bench beside her, and grimaced. "Y'know Hazel Smith, right? Well, she gave me a 'present'." Sara chuckled, throwing Lucas off of his track, but he regained it with a little effort.  
"Anyhow, that present was a small box that pied me when I opened it. As a result, I fell down the stairs and gave myself the bruise." Lucas stopped his grumbling because Sara, sitting beside him, was laughing uproariously. "Alright, I've missed the joke. What's so funny?" Sara wiped the tears that had sprung to her eyes, then replied after she had caught her breath. "What's so funny? I'll tell you. Poetic justice. A month after we first met, you pulled that trick on me and I ended up with an egg on the back of my head the size of my fist. So it's mean, but immensely gratifying to see you get nailed by the same stunt."  
Lucas frowned, then started to chuckle as well, his deep voice adding a counterpoint to Sara's renewed laughter. "Okay, I guess. Just wondering, but did you sic her on me?" Sara shook her head, then gestured for the time as she calmed down. "Well, it's almost 12:15, so I'd better go and get something in my stomach before I make a mistake in the chem room." Sara nodded, then remembered that today was also Friday, and the Eighteenth. *Oh great. Well, in two days, I'm going to have to be ready for anything. Whatever I do though, I'm not going to bring my sword.* Sara looked up at that moment, and saw Erin Cheng looking at her.  
"Well, I wondered when you'd have enough free time to find me. Here's the fifty I owe you." Sara pulled a bill from her wallet, then waved it in Erin's face until the girl reached out and grabbed it. "Wow. This is actually worth about twice that much." Sara grinned as Erin pocketed the bill. "Actually, only about seventy-five. Oh yeah, about the little gift I promised you, it won't be ready for a few more days. Sorry." Erin shrugged, then sat down beside Sara. "That's okay. Oh yes, I'm just wondering, but what's with the knife hidden along your right leg?"  
Sara frowned, but tapped her right leg as Erin looked at her. 'Well, I guess it's okay to tell you. Some people key cars, I slash tires." Erin smiled, but shook her head to show she wasn't buying it. "Okay. It's actually for self-defence. Satisfied?" Erin nodded, then stood up and ran over to a nice-looking boy who seemed to be waiting for her. Sara watched the two walk off for a few seconds, then turned her attention to Lori's gang who were beginning to intimidate some more young students. Sara decided to break up the group once again, but Adrian got there first and told Lori to quit harassing the juniors.  
Sara watched Lori's gang disperse under the watchful eye of Adrian, then smiled. "Well, it seems that every teacher has some opportunities to torment Lori. Just wondering, but where's Doctor Zack? I heard that he works here, but haven't seen him yet." Adrian grimaced, then looked Sara in the eye. "Actually, I haven't seen him for the last two or three days either. I heard that he had apparently called in sick, but I wouldn't put it past the principal to try and replace him." Sara snorted. "From what I've seen of the good doctor, that's not bloody likely. Maybe a friend could wander over sometime this week."  
Adrian nodded, but his reply was drowned out by the bell, signalling the end of lunch. Sara nodded, then walked back into the school before the swarm of bored students crushed the teachers into one of the walls. Soon, Sara was causing her first afternoon class to crack up, and the rest of the day went by rather quickly. After school, Sara walked over to her bike, turned off her generator, and watched as Lucas tried to turn on his car. After almost five minutes of watching him try to make the engine turn over, she looked away for a second, and heard a massive KA-WHAM!! from Lucas' car.  
Sara turned back to look at the car, and saw a massive cloud of grey smoke expel itself from the muffler. *Sucker.* Sara looked at the car opposite of Lucas' muffler, and saw a fist-sized hole that had punched through the front grille, and probably wrecked the poor person's radiator. Looking around, Sara saw Lori looking at the cloud of smoke floating above Lucas' abused sedan, and she noticed that Lucas was already out of his car, looking at the damage done to his colleague's car.  
She then drove to her house, parked her bike, and went into her basement hidey-hole. *Okay, now the twentieth is Sunday, and today's Friday evening. Now, what should I bring? The magnums are a definite yes, and I may as well try to train my sword to attack evil-doers. What else? The cards can be useful as support, so I'll take those, and I'll take my knife so I can show off my really nasty close-combat skills. Naturally, my armour will be active for the entire conversation.*  
Sara collected twelve each of the chem-ex and EMP cards, and grabbed one grey card, surrounded by a faint haze. Sara put all twenty-five cards into a specialized hip pack, with three compartments. After sorting the cards by type, Sara closed the pack and put it on the small table beside the exposed cards. Sara grabbed her sword, and felt a small shudder of revulsion pass through her as she looked at the stained scabbard. She knew that some of the brownish-red marks were caused by her own hands, but many others were much older than her, and some were only a few months old.  
She put the sword, still sheathed, on the table beside the hip pack, then unbelted her knife's sheath and put it on the table as well. Sara looked at the innocent-looking objects on the table, and felt a sudden urge to get out of the small room before she felt like smashing something. Sara climbed out of the small room, and closed it before deciding to get some leisure reading done. She walked over to the kitchen first, made herself a sandwich out of several cold cuts and cheese, and polished off the small meal before grabbing the Pern novel she had bought a few days ago.  
Sara read the book for a solid three hours, totally engrossed in the story, and finally noticed that she had a visitor when the guest knocked on the back door. Sara got up, walked to the back door, and opened it to the sight of a rather pained-looking girl who she knew on sight. "Well, how are you doing Stryk?" Sara motioned the teen to come inside, then closed the door after Stryk came in. "Well, it seems that I'm cashing in on your offer to crash here. Actually, I was caught in a bit of a scrape and need some place to lie low for a few days."  
Sara nodded, then ventured a guess. "So, Jose wants you to be turned into cannon-fodder ASAP huh?" Stryk nodded, then looked upstairs for a few seconds. "Actually, I'm really exhausted, so could I crash in your spare room now?" Sara nodded, then ushered Stryk into the guest room, and saw that the exhausted girl was asleep before going back downstairs to read another six or seven chapters of the book.  
  
Three Houses to the South, and Several Hours Later   
  
Six landed on the small balcony outside the rather large window there, and knocked lightly on the windowpane. She heard a muffled voice respond to her light tapping, then the window opened, seemingly of its own accord. Six walked into the rather spacious room, and she looked over at Dr. Zack, who was sitting in his large armchair, already smoking on his ever-present pipe. "Good evening Tony. How are you this fine day?" Dr. Zack nodded at his guest and took a long pull on his pipe before responding. "I could be better my friend. You've had closer contact with Miss D'Arnise than I have, so you may be able to answer some questions."  
Six smiled slightly, then responded. "Actually, it's at Sara's request that I wander over here and see how you're doing. She was slightly concerned about your disappearance from school for the last several days." Dr. Zack nodded, then pointed towards the basement. "Well, I have a perfectly justifiable excuse this time. I've been working on ways to try and decipher the internal workings of those nanomachines that are in our friend's blood. As far as I can tell, they were originally programmed to repair damage done to osteocytes, but they seem to have almost... evolved to a level that surpasses almost every form of nanotechnology that I have ever worked with.  
"I swear, these machines are easily four or five times more advanced than the ones I use to make those thumb-sized rubies and spider silk." Six nodded, but she had managed to partially lose what Dr. Zack was saying when he started on how advanced the machines were. "That's fairly high up in my level of comprehension, but you're basically telling me that those machines floating around in my friend's blood actually evolved to their current configuration?" Dr. Zack nodded, then turned the conversation to more mundane matters, including an offer for Six's customary cup of blueberry tea. By the time the clock hit two in the morning, Six and Dr. Zack had finished their conversation, and she went out to try and keep a lid on the city's resident greenskin population. 


	11. Revelations

Saturday   
  
Sara woke up from where she had fallen asleep on the couch, with her novel still held loosely  
in one hand. *Heh. First time I've slept on a couch without being wounded. I wonder how my guest  
is doing?* Sara stood up, placed the book on the table, and walked upstairs, mentally deciding to  
have a shower first. When she got to the bathroom though, she heard the shower already running, so  
she shrugged and went to her room to get a change of clothes. Soon, Sara heard the shower shut off  
and the bathroom door opened slightly.  
"Hey Sara, do you have any spare clothes I could borrow for a while?" Stryk was being fairly  
quiet, and Sara replied quickly. "Yeah, sure. Hope you don't mind a long shirt for now." Sara  
grabbed a T-shirt that, when she was Stryk's height, went past her knees, and tossed it through the  
two-inch wide gap left by Stryk. Stryk chuckled as Sara went back into her room, and soon Sara  
heard the bathroom being vacated. With that, Sara had a twenty-minute shower, got changed, and  
went downstairs in time to see her guest leave the kitchen, carrying what looked like a quad-decker  
sandwich, loaded with just about every kind of meat and cheese Sara had.  
"Well, It looks like you're going to clear out my fridge faster than Six did. So, can you tell  
me why you decided to come here for refuge?" Stryk nodded, and tried to speak through a mouthful  
of her sandwich, but the response was muffled, and she nearly choked. Sara had to hit Stryk between  
the shoulder-blades to stop the coughing fit, but soon Stryk was back to normal. "So, what  
happened?" Stryk sighed slightly, then told all. "Well, I had to umm, acquire some funding, so I went  
out and was ambushed by squad of those damned greenskins." Sara nodded, and frowned slightly.  
"Those things are getting smarter as time goes by. Remind me to install some MG42s on my roof just  
so they learn to avoid this area. Anyhow, where were you?"  
Stryk hid a smile, then continued with her explanation. "Well, I led them on a merry little  
romp through the north end, and saw something being taken into a warehouse guarded by almost  
thirty more of those grunts. Some of those also joined in the chase, and I ended up having to fight  
my way out of a swarm. I'm glad that they weren't using any heavy weapons, otherwise I'd be a pink  
and silver smear all over some wall." Sara raised an eyebrow, then remembered the little bits of metal  
she had seen on Stryk's temples when she had been shot. "Ah, your involuntary enhancements.  
Y'know, I occasionally think that you're a techno-sibling." Stryk's eyes nearly doubled in size when  
Sara said that, but she kept her peace, for a few seconds.  
"Okay, I give. How could you say that, and keep a straight face?" Stryk finished off the last  
few pieces of the sandwich while speaking, so Sara moved into the kitchen and brewed up a mug of  
tea for herself. After finishing, Sara went into the living room, where Stryk was lounging on the  
couch, and she decided to explain. "Simple. I am pretty much a cyborg myself. If someone removed  
all the non-organic materials from my body, they'd have most of the bones in my arms, legs, my entire  
ribcage, and about seven kilos of nanotechnology. Now, my 'enhancements' were required to save  
my life, and personally I hope to never suffer through what happened to you, and actually, I have a  
personal vendetta against that bastard."  
Stryk's eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling when her mind percolated through what Sara had just  
said, and she had to ask. "So, why do you have a vendetta against Reichter? Mine is justifiable, but  
you haven't given me a reason for yours." Sara looked at Stryk with her eyes narrowed to slits,  
making her appear to be even more menacing. In response, Sara swept her hair back from the scars  
on her face, and traced them with one finger. "These were caused by a greenskin, but it's what  
happened at the same time that has caused the hatred to exist. My grandparents, the only two people  
I truly cared about, and a houseful of children under the age of ten were killed when the squad of  
freaks blew up the place.  
"I spent almost three days unearthing bodies, most of them smaller than you. This is why I  
have a vendetta." Sara was fighting tears, but failed as several spilled down her face, some running  
along the channels in her cheek caused by the scarring. "Oh my god. I thought I had it rough, but you  
seem to have seen much worse. Hell, I was only experimented on by a mad scientist, who tried to turn  
me into the 'perfect' assassin, and when I finally escaped, my entire family barred their doors because  
I was dead to them."  
Sara nodded, but was pulled out of her despondency by Stryk's tone of voice. "Yeah, you  
have had it rough, but I don't think you were forced to go through surgery that indentured you to a  
mega-corporation with no redeeming morals, which required you to do things such as assassinate  
entire families, just to keep a competitive edge. Also, I doubt you've participated in a slaving  
operation, nor have you seen the only people you care about brutally murdered right in front of you,  
with you being unable to do anything." Sara looked into Stryk's eyes, and noticed that her eyes were   
clouded by inner pain.  
"Look, I'm sorry about dumping on you, and actually, I'm hoping we could compare life  
stories someday. Now Stryk, before you rip my head off, can I call you Erin?" Stryk sat bolt upright  
and glared at Sara. "How the hell did you know?" Sara smiled. "I knew when I first saw you as Stryk,  
especially because of my meeting with you as Erin the day before. First, the hair. The only difference  
is that as Erin, you sweep your hair forwards to hide your implants. Second, body language. even  
though you're less assertive as Erin, it's pretty easy to see through the act, especially if you've had  
my experiences. Third, when you're running around during the night, you really need to keep the cash  
you collected in the day hidden in areas other than your back pocket.  
"Now that I've blasted into your other identity, I think you should have the same opportunity.  
Lemme show you something." Sara got up after finishing her tea, and pushed the panel that opened  
up her basement lair. Stryk looked on as the panel in the floor slid aside, but she followed as Sara  
dropped into the hole. Looking around, Stryk saw the sword rack, currently empty, the table with  
the three stacks of cards, the sheathed sword, and the dagger sitting on it, along with a small hip  
pack. The next thing Stryk noticed was the faded newspaper articles tacked onto one wall, and the  
cape hung on what looked like a mannequin's shoulders.  
"So, what's with the dungeon? Any twisted fetishes?" Sara laughed. "You would wish,  
wouldn't you. Actually, this is where I keep a lot of my equipment from my travels." Stryk walked  
over to a rather garish article, which was almost screaming : Killer of Child Pornographer Apparently  
Ghost! Stryk snorted at the article, which was apparently a piece of fluff, then turned back to Sara  
and nearly had a heart attack. Sara's body was totally covered by a purplish-black substance which  
seemed to be made up of many small interlocking scales. The only parts exposed were her eyes, and  
a fair amount of her hair was running down her back. Also, when Stryk looked down slightly, she  
noticed a flash of red at Sara's throat, and was rather curious.  
"So, how the hell did that happen? What is that? A symbiote?" Sara shook her head, then  
looked at Stryk cooly. As she started to speak, the armour rippled away from her mouth, leaving the  
lower third of her face exposed. "Nope, this isn't a symbiote. Those only exist in science fiction  
novels. This is a suit of trainable combat armour, made up of titanium and micro-polymer weave.  
Also, I control it through a subvocal microphone currently implanted in my pendant, of which only  
the ruby is now visible. Nifty huh?" Stryk could only nod, then watched as Sara strapped the knife  
to her right calf and was dumbfounded as the leather straps holding it there were covered by the  
armour in a strange rippling motion.  
The same happened when Sara belted the hip pack to her right side, but the belt holding the  
scabbard of the sword was not covered by the armour when Sara looped it over her right arm. "Okay,  
you look like you're going into a war zone." Sara shrugged, then jumped out of the room and told  
Stryk to get out of there before she closed it. Stryk followed, utilizing some of her inhuman reflexes  
to get out of the room before the panel closed. Sara gestured for upstairs, and the two women went  
into Sara's room where she opened the safe, and removed her twin magnums along with a gunbelt  
designed for quickdraws, and eight extra magazines. Sara quickly checked the guns for any serious  
wear and tear, then reloaded them so they held nine bullets instead of the usual eight.  
After the maintenance was over, Sara put the guns into the belt, and buckled it around her  
waist, letting the gun on the right side drop lower than on the left. Sara turned around to look at  
Stryk, then struck a semi-heroic pose. "So, what do I look like? Something that inspires fear, or  
something that inspires laughter?" Stryk, caught up in Sara's good humour, chuckled slightly, but  
shook her head. "Okay, how about this?" Sara murmured something, and the armour rippled slightly,  
appearing to shrivel slightly along her legs and torso, but her left arm swiftly extruded a three-foot  
long metallic spike, and the right unfurled an amazingly long whip from the wrist. At the same time,  
Sara donned the cape that she had hidden behind her back for the last few minutes, and wrapped the  
greyish material around her.  
"Okay, this looks like I'm a comic book hero or villain, depending on your point of view."  
Stryk grinned and applauded the appearance, but jumped slightly when something tapped her shoulder  
from behind. Spinning around, Stryk saw the tip of Sara's whip hovering in the air just below  
shoulder level, and suddenly felt the point of the metal spine pricking the base of her neck. "Rule  
number one, Erin. Never turn your back on someone like me. Now, I saw you look at those news  
articles, and those exist as proof that I am more than a very angry ghost, flitting around the world."  
Stryk nodded, feeling slightly concerned about the amazing speed Sara moved at.  
"Okay, you've proven your point. Can you deactivate your armour now?" Sara nodded,  
whispered something, and Stryk saw the whip disappear at the same time she felt the spike remove  
itself from her neck. Turning around, Stryk saw Sara standing there, in her normal clothes, but with  
the addition of the myriad belts and pieces of ordnance to her normal clothes. Sara then unbelted  
everything, tossing the knife, magnums, and hip pack into the safe and putting the sword down  
carefully beside the small table near the window. The only two things she didn't remove were a purple  
belt wrapped diagonally around her hips, and the pendant which was still seated between her  
collarbones.  
"Okay, you seem to have more than a few secrets hidden in your pockets, but I won't pry too  
much. Now, I may as well wander off before anything bad happens, but I'm going to return  
eventually. I'll talk to you at school." Sara nodded, and after Stryk changed to her nighttime clothes,  
she was ushered out the back door. Stryk grinned at Sara, waved quickly, and jumped over to the  
roof of the third house to the south. Sara went back into her house, and after looking at the book on  
the table, and at the clock, which was telling her that it was almost two in the afternoon, she decided  
to go to a club for a little while.  
Sara drove to a club she had seen when leaving the school, and after going through her usual  
routine of making sure no damage would be incurred to her bike, she walked inside and was nearly  
bowled over by six teens heading to a table, already surrounded by what looked like every member  
of the teenage male population in the city. Sara, feeling very curious, walked over and simply shoved  
her way through to the inner ring. Looking down slightly, she saw four girls playing poker, of which  
one was really cleaning up. Smiling slightly, Sara watched as a girl went too far, lost the remaining  
chips in her pile, and was forced to drop out. Before anyone could object, Sara dropped into the  
recently vacated seat, and just as the next dealer started to complain, Sara flashed several bills of large  
denominations into her face.  
"Alright miss, you can play. Starting ante is reset to five dollars." Sara quickly converted four  
hundred dollars into chips, and smiled at the hefty bonus due to the exchange rate. The girl who was  
stacking her chips smiled slightly and looked nervous. Sara knew that it was an act, evidenced by the  
large stack of chips, barely outstripped by her own. "Okay, let's get this show on the road." Sara  
muttered under her breath as she was dealt her first hand. Looking at the hand, she was surprised to  
notice that she already had three of a kind, and could probably coast to a fair win on that alone. After  
putting in the required ante, Sara let the betting commence, and noticed that the losers were both  
betting very aggressively, while her primary competitor was betting more cautiously.  
Within twenty minutes and five hands, the two aggressive betters were down to only a few  
low-denomination chips, while Sara and the other girl had increased their stack sizes by about 40%.  
*This is turning out to be a good game. Now let's see who'll win today.* Sara put in the ante, and  
smiled as her hand arrived. Without even looking at her cards, she tossed in a fifty-dollar chip and  
cocked her head to the side. The other three girls shuddered, but they called Sara's bet, despite being  
left with no money for the two aggressive ones. The cautious better looked long and hard at Sara's  
unreadable face, then folded.  
"Good choice." Sara slowly flipped her hand over with one finger, revealing the ten, Jack,  
Queen, King and Ace of spades. The entire group around the table gasped in horror as Sara added  
another hundred and ten dollars to her pile, then she flipped over the other girl's cards. Her hand was  
a four of a kind, all nines. "Good game. Look, I have to go somewhere in about ten minutes, so let's  
finish this now. All the chips, one hand of blackjack. What do you say?" The girl nodded and shoved  
her entire stack into the centre of the table. Sara did the same, and noticed that the table was  
beginning to creak and groan from the strain over having almost four thousand dollars worth of chips  
heaped on the weakest point.  
The cards were dealt, and Sara looked at hers. *Hmm. Two kings and an Ace. That makes  
me the winner if I play.* Sara nodded at the girl, so the younger person put her cards down first.  
*Three fours? That's no contest. Hell, I don't even need the money.* Sara smiled, put her hand face  
down on the table, and slowly pushed the pile of chips to the girl's side. "You win. Have a good day."  
Sara then got up, and slowly walked over to the bar on the opposite side of the room. Sitting on a  
stool, she asked for a bottle of coke, then waited for the girl to discover that if she had wanted to,  
Sara could have gotten every last penny out of her.  
Soon, the girl sat down beside her, pack now bulging with bills. "So, why'd you do that? I  
thought only desperate people played cards." Sara shrugged. "Or bored people. What am I going to  
do with a few thousand extra? Hell, I have enough money to keep a comfortable lifestyle for myself  
that'll last me almost twenty years. So, now that you're in a bit of light, lemme look at you for a sec."  
Sara half-turned in her seat and glanced at the girl, then grinned. "Well, I'm not that surprised that  
you're here Hazel. So didja have fun?" Hazel nodded, then ordered a coke as well. "Y'know, when  
I turned over your cards, everyone saw you had me beat, and a few thought I should give you all the  
cash.  
Sara frowned, and finished off her drink. "Bullshit. You won fairly, and if they give you any  
crap I'd happily clock one or two. Despite the fact that I gave up, you played a good hand, and only  
lost through bad luck. Now, how's your homework?" Hazel smiled, then shook her head. "In your  
class or in others? Lemme see, you haven't given us any work yet, except for the usual writing in  
class. For all the others? Well, I don't do my work anyhow, so it doesn't matter." Sara shrugged.  
"Fine, it's your future kid. I gotta go, but I'll see ya around." With that, Sara paid and tipped the  
bartender, got up, and left the club in time to see the last rays of sunlight disappear into the man-made  
canyons to the west. *Well, I have a day left before I have to be at the damned warehouse, so I'm  
going to do a quick scouting mission, just to see what I'm going into.*  
Sara drove north to the warehouse district, and after dredging the number out of her memory,  
she went over to where the sheet-metal structure stood and watched through a window as several  
large men moved around several of the crates inside the building. Sara glanced at her watch as she  
quickly surveyed the layout, and realized that she'd better get home in time to watch the late news.  
Sara then drove to her house, observant for any tails, but she had picked up none, and after she  
arrived and had put away her bike, she noticed a hand-written note stuck to the door. Grabbing the  
note, Sara read it as she turned on her laptop to check her mail.  
  
"Dear Miss D'Arnise. I have some information about your 'enhancements' that you may want  
to listen to. Please contact me through E-mail, or come over to my house relatively soon. The  
information may have great consequences, and what you do in the future may be impacted by the  
information revealed.  
Sincerely, Dr. Anthony Zacharias."  
  
Sara raised her eyebrows, reread the note three times, then put it down and logged on to her  
internet account to check her mail. After wading through several hundred junk messages, Sarah had  
whittled the size of her inbox to only fifteen messages, none of which had any impact on the meeting  
at midnight tomorrow. Sara read all of them, noticing one from Dr. Sorbie, which she immediately  
replied to, then turned off the computer. *Okay, I think I should bring my laptop over to Zack's so  
I can show him this message from Sorbie. After all, maybe I can get both men to get into some  
correspondence together.*  
Sara put the computer into its carrying case, then walked out of her house, locking the door  
behind her. Instead of driving to Zack's house, she just walked to the heavily fortified building that  
was at a corner intersection. She walked through the wrought-iron gate, and keeping on the path, she  
walked to the front door, and knocked briskly on it. Sara felt something odd about the door though,  
and on closer inspection, she noticed that it was painted to look like an oak door, but was actually  
made of heavy-gauge steel.  
The door opened soon after, and Sara found herself face-to-collar with the esteemed Dr.  
Zack. "Good evening doc. I got your message about twenty minutes ago, and wanted to clear my  
other messages first. So, may I come in?" Sara waited quietly as Dr. Zack arranged his thoughts,  
occasionally tapping one of her fingers on her thigh. "Well, It seems that we won't get anything done  
on the front stoop, so please, come inside. I apologise for the delay in the invite, but I was thinking  
of a chemical theorem that I need to put on paper soon." Sara nodded, smiling slightly and entered  
the main foyer of Zack's house.  
Looking around, she instantly noticed that the foyer looked slightly utilitarian, but she  
followed Dr. Zack upstairs after he beckoned her to follow him. Sara went up the short slight of stairs  
to the living room, studying almost everything she saw with her usual negligent intensity. When she  
arrived in the living room, Sara saw that one of the three chairs was occupied, and by a close friend  
to boot. "Well, how are you this fine day Six? You seem to be a lot healthier than when I first saw  
you." Sara smiled, and offered her hand to her friend. Leaning closer, Sara whispered "How's your  
leg? Acting up any?" Six smiled, shook her head, and nodded towards the empty chair to her left.  
Sara accepted the invitation, and sat down, putting the carrying case for her laptop down beside her.  
Dr. Zack had also sat down in a large armchair across from her, and was stoking a pipe that  
looked like it was older than her. "So, could you tell me what's so important about my  
'enhancements' as you so eloquently called them?" Sara leaned forwards slightly, resting her elbows  
on her knees as she looked at Zack. Six grinned and leaned back somewhat, content to play watchful  
observer. Dr. Zack finished tamping some tobacco into the bowl of his pipe, lit it, and then turned his  
attention to Sara. "Well, Miss D'Arnise, I said that I had analysed your blood, and have found  
something quite unnerving. Apparently, the nanomachinery in your bloodstream have enhanced  
themselves through several generations.  
"Also, the machinery has begun to take upon itself extra tasks such as advanced cellular  
repair, and what appears to be construction of red blood cells from remains of the old ones. Now, I  
actually managed to pull the original specs of what your nanotech looked like off the 'net, and I have  
an image of the current ones in your blood. Let me show you the difference." Zack got up, still  
puffing away on his pipe, and picked up a computer disk as Sara pulled out her laptop. She booted  
up the machine, and put the disk in, minutes before activating a graphics program. Looking at the  
original nanobot, which was a simple skeleton with a few manipulative arms and a miniaturized  
thruster on the back, and comparing it to the 'evolved' version which had a heavy casing, many more  
manipulators, and better control systems that were visible.  
"Good god! I'm surprised that those things haven't had any programming glitches yet. Could  
you tell me what the side effects of the enhanced systems are?" Dr. Zack nodded as Sara set up her  
laptop to display the images side-by-side right before she activated her E-mail program and selected  
the message she got from Sorbie. "Well, apparently, you'll suffer from limited cellular decay, thereby  
slowing your aging process. Also, you'll have less need for blood transfusions due to the afore-  
mentioned cellular repair having extended to encompass your red cells." Sara's eyes had increased  
in size to approximately the level of golf balls, and she silently tapped the screen of the laptop as she  
understood the implications of the message Dr. Sorbie sent her.  
"My god. Dr. Zack, Six, you might want to look at this." Sara turned the laptop to Dr. Zack,  
and let Six crowd her slightly as both people read the message.  
  
"Selina: The nanotech implanted into your system will upgrade itself at a regular rate until an  
approximate time-frame of five years has passed. At that point, they may diverge, and on the  
divergent path, the machines would turn you into what could best be called an Ebola Mary. If you're  
lucky enough to not suffer through that path, the nanomachines will stop upgrading themselves, and  
only multiply at a rate required to sustain their current population. I'm sending you two pictures of  
what the machines would look like if they changed to the plague variety, compared to the benign  
version.  
I pray that you are lucky. Sincerely, Dr. Charles Sorbie."  
  
Six and Dr. Zack looked at the files that had been attached, and they both relaxed quickly  
when the benign version appeared on the screen, showing itself to be virtually identical to Sara's  
current batch in almost every way. Dr. Zack sat back down in his seat, and rubbing his forehead, he  
sighed. "Amazing. I cannot believe what a close call we have just had. You, my young friend, could  
be considered the only organic weapon of mass destruction in the world. I do not envy you. In all  
honesty, I recommend that you pray to whatever higher power you believe in. Please, could you copy  
all the files you have on your nanotech into a CD sometime? I would greatly appreciate it, since it  
would help boost further research on your condition."   
Sara nodded, then looked at her hands. "I've had these machines in me for the last four and  
a half years. Now, from what I've seen, I'm on a fast track to be on the benign route, but I have six  
months of mental torture to go through, mainly because I don't know whether or not they will change  
into a plague." She looked like she was going to cry, and Six moved to try and reassure Sara.  
"Honestly, I wonder about the morals of the people who produced your nanomachines, and  
am appalled at the risk they have run by literally taking a chance on you, and the world to boot." Dr.  
Zack sighed and shook his head, "Now, from what that message said, I can guess that your  
nanomachines have three overriding programs.  
"Number 1: fix any damage done to you on a cellular level. Number 2: Upgrade themselves  
to be more efficient and capable of repairing more complex damage. And, Number 3: Cancel any  
subsequent upgrades at the five-year mark, and only allow the nanomachines to repair your damage  
and maintain their current levels. However, we have proof that only two of those programs work,  
and there may be bugs in the third."  
Sara looked at Dr. Zack, who was now chewing worriedly on the stem of his pipe. "How do  
you know that the first two work?"  
Dr. Zack smiled slightly. "Well, if the first program had failed, you'd be dead. If the second  
one had failed, you'd still have the primitive 'base' machines instead of the highly advanced ones that  
you do have. The question mark is the third program. If it's buggy, you'll still have upgrades, but run  
the risk of accidentally creating a plague that would almost certainly wipe out most life on Earth."  
Sara shuddered, then asked if she could leave so she could absorb the information she had just  
been fed. Even before Dr. Zack nodded, Sara walked briskly outside, and as soon as she got into fresh  
air, she ran to her house, and went inside. After closing and locking the door, and after she put the  
computer on its shelf, Sara went around the house, locked every door and window, and as she  
entered her room and lay down on the bed, she suddenly broke down and cried herself to sleep. 


	12. Meetings and Questions...

Sunday, 12:37 PM   
  
Sara woke up feeling utterly miserable, the ramifications of her late-night conversation still  
rattling around in her head. *Great. Not only am I a danger to society with my disease, but I can also  
be a one-person epidemic. Well, From my uncanny sense of timing, I can guess that it's past noon,  
which gives me twelve hours, more or less, to clear my mind and make sure that nobody gets the  
bright idea of bothering me tonight. Actually, I think I'm going to sleep some more.* Sara rolled  
over, covering her face with the pillow, but couldn't get back to sleep, no matter how hard she tried.  
*Dammit! Remind me to beat someone*  
Sara sat up in her bed, changed into a new set of clothes, and tossed her collection of dirty  
stuff into a steadily-growing pile that had appeared about a week ago. Sara growled something  
unintelligible as she then picked up the entire pile and half-dragged it downstairs into the back room  
which had the washing machine and dryer sitting there, collecting dust. Sara tossed her clothes into  
the machine, dropped in a few cupfuls of detergent, and turned on the noisemaker. As the machine  
cleaned her clothes, Sara went into the kitchen and had a bowl of cereal before deciding to watch  
some mindless television shows.  
After laughing at a few cartoons, Sara turned off the TV, and grabbed her still-open book that  
she had been reading Friday night. She spent several hours finishing off the book, then pulled her  
now-clean clothes from the washer and tossed them in the dryer. After getting them dried and folded,  
Sara put everything in her room and checked her weapons that she had put in the safe. She buckled  
her pouch of cards around her waist, and practised her quickdraw with each type. Sara didn't throw  
any of the cards around though, mainly because she knew what could happen if she let any one of  
them loose.  
She looked at the clock, and noticed that it was getting close to news hour, so she went back  
downstairs and turned on the TV. She watched the news for the entire hour, made herself a small  
meal of spaghetti and meatballs, and rested her eyes until the clock told her that it was Eleven-Thirty.  
*Well, I'm going to get ready now. Lemme see, I'll activate my armour ten minutes before the  
meeting, and I'd better get my weapons ready.* Sara stood up, walked up to her room, and stripped  
down to her underwear.  
Sara strapped on her dagger first, loosening the blade in its sheath so she could draw it  
quickly. She then went to waist level, putting on the hip pack and gunbelt, which she then loaded with  
several full magazines of high-power bullets, which were reputed to punch right through an elephant.  
Sara put her magnums in their respective holsters, and then took her sword and looped the scabbard's  
belt over her right shoulder, seconds before she activated her armour, which expanded outwards from  
her waist until everything from the neck down was covered by the metallic plates.  
*Heh. Now I look dangerous.* Sara opened her window, and after climbing out onto the roof  
of her porch, she closed the window behind her, and put her cape on. Sara looked around quickly,  
noticing the silence of the area around her house, then jumped north several blocks in one massive  
bound. Sara used her cape as a parachute, slowing her fall long enough to allow her to glide at least  
another seventy yards before her feet landed on the edge of an old brownstone. *Whee! I forgot just  
how much fun it is to do this!* Sara was almost giddy with happiness, but calmed down when she  
remembered what she was up to: A clandestine meeting with an unknown employer, who may be a  
royal piss-off.  
Sara still grinned as she told her armour to go to full combat, covering her face and head  
completely. She jumped northwards again, and in less than five minutes, she was looking at the  
warehouse she was supposed to meet her prospective employer in. Sara lay down on the corrugated  
iron roof of the building she was on, and told her armour to shut down for a little while. Several  
minutes later, Sara reactivated her armour and jumped down to the pavement in front of the open  
door in the side of the building. She walked into the room, looked around, and dodged a relatively  
pathetic attempt to guard the door by sweeping around and grabbing the man's forearm right before  
he was flipped into the light.  
Sara looked at the pseudo-military garb, the ammunition bandoliers, and the knife still held  
in the man's right hand. "Well. Seems that I'm late." Sara let the man go, and walked into the centre  
of the room, where two trestle tables had been set up. She looked at the small congregation of unruly  
men, all armed with a variety of heavy weapons such as one massive man who was carrying two RPG  
(Rocket-Propelled Grenade) launchers on his back. "So, who has the most experience here?" A  
grizzled soldier looked up at Sara, and his eyes widened.  
"Well, if it isn't the ghost knife. Actually, you have the most combat experience, and I'd be  
happy to let you control this group, if at all possible." The soldier's words sent a ripple of surprise  
through the group, and several people edged away from Sara. She shrugged, hooked a chair from  
underneath the near table and dragged it over with her foot. Sitting down in the uncomfortable lump  
of plastic, Sara looked at each bounty hunter standing around, then noticed that a door had opened  
on the opposite side of the warehouse.  
Sara signalled for the bounty hunters to sit down, and watched through narrowed eyes as the  
prospect's guards entered the building, scattering through the passageways, and trying to keep in the  
shadows. Even though, Sara noticed the glowing red eyes that the hulking beings tried to keep  
hidden, and she knew that those were greenskins. *Shit. Is this an ambush, or an employment  
prospect? Definitely gotta keep my eyes open.* Sara fidgeted in her seat, watching as several men  
walked in, all holding assault rifles, with the exception of one man with a flamethrower.  
Sara noticed that the people got progressively smaller as the squads got closer to the table,  
and finally, she watched as a massive greenskin walked into the centre of the room and placed a small  
person on a chair in the centre of the table opposite Sara. Sara noticed that the techno she had  
perforated with her magnums a few days ago was standing to the right of the little person, and on the  
left was a brown-haired teen, with what looked like a metal bracer covering her right forearm. The  
boy sitting in the chair looked at Sara, and she responded by swinging her feet up onto the table in  
front of her and leaning backwards.  
The boy obviously looked like he was going to try and bite her head off, but instead he started  
speaking. "Good. You're here. Now, I'm offering a bounty of several thousand dollars to the person  
who brings me CyberSix's head." Sara snorted under her breath, but sat up straight. *Bullshit. My  
minimum price tag is ten thousand per day, and I rarely do assassinations. This kid has a lot to learn  
about hunters.* She refocused on the boy's rambling. *Geez. Even my previous employers weren't  
this sick. This kid has obviously been snorting crack. What's next? Some preaching on the evils of  
humanity?*  
Sara wasn't disappointed, as the boy launched into a diatribe that lasted for several minutes,  
and managed to alienate every person in front of him. Sara herself was getting very pissed off, and  
was beginning to flex her fingers slightly. *'To complete my father's ideal plan?' Okay, this kid is an  
utter wack job.* Finally, the boy finished, and Sara stood up. "Okay, munchkin. You want us to hunt  
down one person, all for a really measly sum? I'll say this now so my weapons don't have to. You  
are a fucking idiot! Now, I'm definitely not taking this job, especially because I've met your target  
and consider her to be one of the deadliest beings in this city."  
She watched as the boy's face turned red, then her jumped down from his perch and walked  
over to Sara. Looking down, she noticed with some amusement that he was short enough to walk  
under the table without having to duck. "Who the hell are you?" The boy was fuming, obviously  
trying to keep his temper in check. Sara squatted down to his eye level, and in Japanese she said,  
"Hentai Baka. (perverted idiot)" The boy, not understanding the very nasty insult, kicked Sara in the  
shin, and repeated his question. In response, Sara reached out with maddening speed, grabbed the  
boy, and straightened up, allowing him to kick impotently in the air.  
"I'll tell you. I'm The Knife." Sara drew the foot-long African blade from her boot sheath, and  
showed it to the boy. "Now, what's your name?" Sara slowly drew the knife along the boy's shirt  
collar, leaving a light gouge in the boy's shirt. "I'm Jose, and you're going to let me go now!" Sara  
nodded. Then, instead of placing him on the ground like he expected, she suddenly whirled around,  
took a half step backwards, and promptly kicked him in the ass, sending him flying through a window  
into the city harbour.  
Sara then turned back to the group of greenskins, technos, and others, kicking the table down  
to create a makeshift shield. She dove down as several greenskins opened fire with their machine  
guns, which shredded several of the other hunters, splattering blood and other bodily fluids over the  
crates behind the hunters. Sara's cape was also soaked with blood, and she swore quietly as she put  
away her knife and pulled one of her magnums at the same time she drew her sword. Sara saw several  
of the hunters cluster together, firing their assault rifles at the closest enemies while tossing grenades  
at the further ones.  
Sara popped up, unloading her magnum into the chest of the flamethrower-wielding techno  
but missed with a third of the slugs, and negligently flipped her sword around, cutting the table in half.  
She tried to dodge a hail of bullets fired in her direction, but wasn't fast enough, and was knocked  
down by several slugs that smacked into her chest. *That hurt! I really don't want to do that again,  
but when I get home I'm going to dial down the settings so I don't suffer from any nasty side  
effects.*  
Sara put the empty magnum back in its holster, and dove into an alcove opposite of where  
the cluster of hunters was retreating to. She heard a hissing whoosh, screamed for everyone to duck,  
but watched helplessly as the entire group of hunters was shredded into red mist by a well-aimed  
rocket. Sara swore silently, and watched as several technos walked cautiously towards the area where  
blackened shreds of cloth drifted through the air, and pieces of flesh were pattering to the ground in  
a series of wet plops.  
Sara noticed that the entire group was too watchful for her to take them by surprise, so she  
looked for an alternative route. *Heh. The sides and back are blocked, the front is bristling with heavy  
weapons, and the only clear route is up. Up it is.* Sara gathered her strength, jumped up to the top  
of the medium level pile of crates, and pulled out a red card from her belt pouch. *You're gonna get  
shafted, kids.* Sara threw the card at the group, but one techno noticed the small object and dodged  
to the side. A second later, the other five were engulfed in a fiery blast, and thrashed around in agony  
as the chemical explosion cooked them alive.  
Sara moved quickly to another area, trying to keep out of sight, and in order to get slightly  
more agile, she sheathed her sword, and pulled out her full magnum. As Sara settled down on a taller  
stack of crates near where she had booted Jose out the window, she aimed carefully with the scope  
on her pistol, and cleanly blew a greenskin's head off. In response, she drew volleys of small-caliber  
fire to where she was, but had moved over by one crate. *Dammit, my cape is acting as a beacon for  
these grunts. I'm going to take it off for now, and I hope to get it back later.*  
Sara fitted actions to words, and removed the cape so it wouldn't turn into an objective for  
everything in the place to shoot at. She noticed movement to her left, and on the same level as her.  
*Okay, someone has gotten the bright idea to fight me on my own turf. They'll probably be able to  
go up against me close up, but until then, I have the advantage.* Sara then ducked as two bullets  
slammed into the wooden crate she was crouching on, and moved over to another stack.  
Sara grimaced as she noticed that the techno that had dodged her explosive mix was actively  
hunting for her, with a sniper rifle that could probably be able to punch a good way through her  
armour. *Dammit.* Sara continued moving, looking for the person who was on the top of the crates  
with her, and occasionally sniping the greenskins that were patrolling the passageways between the  
stacks of boxes. Naturally, whenever she shot a greenskin with her limited supply of elephant-killers,  
she invited a volley of bullets to where everyone thought she was at.  
As Sara moved along a small alleyway ten feet above the concrete floor, and surrounded by  
what looked like boxes of machine parts, she heard something shift behind her. *What was that?*  
Sara looked around, but noticed nothing. She turned back, started moving again, and felt a sudden  
impact in the small of her back. Sara tucked and rolled forwards, thankful for her training in the  
martial arts, which allowed her to avoid the brunt of the blow, which could've snapped her spine. She  
turned around quickly, and looked at her ambusher. It was the girl who she had seen earlier, and that  
girl was pissed. Sara raised her arms, allowing herself to slide into one of the basic positions of  
Pentjak.  
"So, you've caused me a bit of a headache. Let's get this over with." The girl spat angrily.  
Then, she dodged forwards, ducking and weaving, right before landing a punch in Sara's stomach.  
Sara tried to avoid the brunt of the blow, but she felt something in her upper abdomen tear loose,  
causing her a massive amount of pain. Sara countered with a snap-kick to the girl's thigh that  
connected heavily, but didn't break the bone. *I am going to get you. Rrrgghhh... I think you may  
have damaged my liver.* Sara dodged backwards, and faking a stumble, she pulled her knife out of  
its boot sheath. "Now we're on even ground." The girl lunged at Sara again, and Sara, instead of  
dodging, laid open the girl's left forearm to the bone.  
The girl screamed, and Sara watched as droplets of greenish blood pattered onto the ropes  
tying the crates together. As the seemingly corrosive liquid ate through the heavy cords, Sara swept  
the girl's feet out from underneath her and jumped over to the next stack as the one she had been  
fighting on began to collapse. Sara staggered in pain as she landed, feeling her internal injuries  
intensify for a few seconds. Sara flicked the remaining blood off her knife before re-sheathing it, and  
decided to get the hell out of dodge before that girl came back for a rematch. Sara got over to where  
she had stashed her cape, and hearing strident shouting from the end of the warehouse closest to the  
water, she just left by the opposite end of the building.  
Several minutes later, Sara landed lightly on the roof of an old building, and sat down in the  
shadows of a chimney. *Why the bloody hell do I feel so fatigued? I've gone through worse fights  
than that without a scratch, and I'm usually a hell of a better shot. So what's happened?* Sara stood  
up again as she felt the pain in her stomach ebb slightly, then nearly collapsed as a sharp spine of pain  
slammed through her. Sara coughed, hard, and then spat some blood onto the rough tar of the roof.  
Dizzy and weak, she dragged herself back into the shadows before shutting down her armour. Sara  
tried to keep conscious, but was eventually dragged down into mental oblivion.  
  
Simultaneously, in Dr. Zack's House   
  
Dr. Zack settled down in front of his "special" phone, looking at the number scribbled on the  
Post-it he held in his hand. Pursing his lips, he picked up the receiver, dialled the number, and got a  
message demanding the country prefix.   
Sighing, he got the phone book, looked up the country prefix for Canada, and punched it in,  
along with the number. He smiled grimly when the phone, finally, clicked through to the other end  
and began to ring.  
"Hello?"  
"Is this Dr. Charles Sorbie I am speaking to?" Dr. Zack noted that both lamps on the top of  
the phone lit up green.  
"Yes. Who is this?"  
"I am Dr. Anthony Zacharias, calling from South America about a patient of yours. Miss Sara  
D'Arnise."  
Pause, "I'm sorry, but I've retired, and don't have access to my records any more. The name  
doesn't ring a bell."  
"Well, in the E-mail you sent to her yesterday, you addressed her as Selina."  
Very long pause, "Is there something wrong?"  
"Not yet. It was extremely irresponsible to-"  
"Out of my hands." Dr. Sorbie interrupted hastily, "not my idea."  
"But-"  
"She was in very bad shape when I got her," Dr. Sorbie plunged on, "extensive surgery,  
extreme drug regimes. Her family couldn't possibly afford the expenses."  
"So somebody footed the bill? Why, the cost of developing and constructing those-"  
"Out of my hands." Sorbie interrupted, "It was out of my hands."  
"Dr. Sorbie, only a corporation could-"  
The left light on the phone changed from green to yellow, then to red at the mention of the  
word "Corporation".  
*DAMN! Voice activated wiretap!* Dr. Zack realized why the initially polite Dr. Sorbie had  
started to interrupt him, "-uhh, be able to afford funding a chair of Medicine at Meridiana University!"  
he thought wildly.  
Dr. Sorbie apparently was no fool, "I'm sorry, but I'm retired, and have my family to consider.  
I wish you luck in finding some other suitable candidate."  
"Could you give me the names of a few you could recommend, Dr. Sorbie?"  
To make it sound convincing, Dr. Zack wrote the names down, making sure he got the  
spelling right, "Sorry to bother you, Dr. Sorbie."  
"Quite all right. Quite flattering, in a way, to be considered."  
"Good bye."  
"Good bye."  
Dr. Zack hung the phone up and leaned back in his chair, "Damnation! Now I've got TWO  
corporations to worry about!"  
  
Several Minutes Later, in the Northern United States   
  
"Sir?"  
"Yes? What is it this time?"  
"We seem to have picked up a charge wave corresponding to the original suit. Also, we have  
records of a person entering the area with unprecedented amounts of metal in her system."  
"So, she's finally appeared in our sights. Where is she?"  
"A medium-sized city in a third-world country. The place is called... let me see... Meridiana.  
We don't have a branch office there, so we have no reconnaissance right now."  
"Get our spec-ops forces briefed. I want them in that city within two months. Oh yes, give  
them the carrier wave that shuts down her suit, and train them in the upgraded version."  
"Um, sir?"  
"What?"  
"We also have a partial call to the doctor who did the operations on the subject. Apparently,  
one Dr. Anthony Zacharias was attempting to offer our good doctor a position at the local university  
as head of medicine. Would you like the team to put him under surveillance?"  
"Dr. Zack? Calling Sorbie? Damn."  
"You know him sir?"  
"Yes. He worked for a competitor. Luckily, he quit before they would have squashed us. I'm  
surprised that our subject has contacted him. Didn't you say that she was in Meridiana?"  
"Yes sir. Isn't that city the epicentre of a lot of the world's paranormal activities?"  
"Yes. That's why we don't have a branch office there. Get Zack under surveillance as soon  
as possible."  
"Of course, sir." 


	13. Sometimes, blood is thinner...

Monday, 3:25 AM   
  
Sara woke up, feeling like someone had used her stomach for a testing ground for ice picks.  
Groaning, she staggered to her feet, and activated her armour so she could get home. Jumping from  
rooftop to rooftop, usually doubled over in agony from every jarring landing, she caught a glimpse  
of something moving behind her. Before it could get any closer, she went from peacetime to combat,  
allowing her face to be obscured. She waited, still clutching her stomach with one hand, and clinging  
with the other to a spire that was sticking out of a dilapidated church. Sara watched as the blur  
resolved into CyberSix's distinctive form.  
"Well, it seems that I'm not the only night person out and about. So, how are you doing?"  
Six jumped slightly as Sara spoke, deliberately roughening her voice to keep her identity hidden.  
"Who are you?" Six spoke quietly, peering onto the shadows where Sara was hiding.  
"A friend."  
"Okay then. What should I call you?"  
"The Knife. By the way, I broke up a plot by Jose to try and kill you using bounty hunters,  
so feel slightly less concerned about your well being. I'll see you around."  
With that, Sara revealed her armoured form to Six, and jumped away. She used a roundabout  
route to get to her house, and after entering by the bedroom window, she deactivated her armour,  
removed all her equipment, which was then tossed into the safe, and collapsed into her bed, falling  
asleep almost instantly.  
  
Sara woke up at almost Seven-Thirty, went downstairs, and called up the school. "Hello...  
this is Miss D'Arnise. I'm sorry, but I can't come in today. I managed to somehow injure myself and  
don't want to exacerbate my injury. ...Thank you, I'll try to get in tomorrow." With that, she then  
went back to her room and fell asleep, still confused by her sudden onset of weakness but grateful  
that she was healing at her usual accelerated rate.  
  
At the School, Lunch Hour   
  
Adrian and Lucas were walking around, having a very quiet conversation. "So, where is she?  
There was a message from the principal about her being injured, but I think she'll be around sometime  
today." Lucas finished his rant, then turned to his friend. Adrian looked agitated at Sara's  
disappearance, but tried to keep it under wraps, which could be considered admirable because the  
principal had grabbed Adrian as the substitute teacher for Sara's class.  
"Look Lucas. I think she'd be here if she could, and if not, she'll have a bit of explaining to  
do. So just calm down, and try to keep Lori out of trouble. Besides, look at the bright side; you're  
not getting tormented by having your car turned into a potato launcher, or by being pied by Hazel."  
Lucas chuckled, then turned around and watched as Hazel and Erin finished taping a picture  
of the school yard at night over the principal's window. "Erin! What are you doing?"  
"Ya really wanna know Lucas? Not telling though..." Erin grinned, then took Hazel along  
with her, both girls holding small burlap sacks. "What are those two up to?"  
"Leave them be Lucas. They won't blow up the tech wing, or even get close to the damage  
you do to the chem room on a daily basis. Come on, let's get some lunch."  
  
Dr. Zack was sitting in an open-air Cafe near the school, studying a vial of silvery-red fluid  
that he had placed on the table in front of him. As he focussed on the odd substance, he flipped to a  
sketch of what appeared to be a miniature bathyscape and started to draw another, slightly different  
version underneath the original. Soon he had finished, and instead of putting the book away, he  
sipped at his iced tea and slowly swirled the liquid around in the vial, revealing that it seemed to be  
just as liquid-like as it was when Reba Pearce, aka. Cyber 5000, had given it to him several days ago.  
Looking up a minute later, Dr. Zack noticed that Adrian was walking over to the table, carrying a  
sandwich and milk carton.  
"Hello Adrian. How are you today?"  
"Pretty good, all things considered." Adrian leaned in closer to Zack after sitting down, and  
started speaking in a low voice. "Last night, I had an interesting run-in with... something. The being  
was definitely a woman, but the voice was extremely rough, and her body was covered with what  
looked like metallic scales."  
"Wait a second. The person's body was covered by scales? What did they look like?"  
"It was a brief glimpse, but they seemed to be the same colour of a heavy bruise, and had a  
faint sheen along the pointed parts that were around the joints. Honestly, I'm confused about that  
person's statements. She said that she's a friend, and is called the Knife."  
"I'll take a look through some of the internet contacts for any information, but right now, I'm  
more concerned about our absentee teacher. These sketches were made approximately two days  
apart, and they show a definite change in the physical structure in the nanomachines." Dr. Zack  
showed the two sketches to Adrian, who raised an eyebrow in confusion.  
"I said it before, and I'll say it again. I have minimal knowledge about higher technology, and  
am currently drawing a blank with this information. So, what's it mean?"  
Dr. Zack frowned, and took another sip of his drink before retrieving the sketchbook from  
his friend. "That means, simply, that our friend's 'enhancements' are not only being upgraded, but  
they are quite capable of changing to almost anything right now. The only thing that's surprising is  
that they have no EM shielding, so their programs would be disrupted by anything that's as strong  
as the EM waves put out by a high-power microwave."  
Adrian grimaced, and finished off his lunch. "Well, I think we'd better keep some tabs on  
Sara, otherwise this will escalate into something that could be worse than Hiroshima."  
Dr. Zack nodded, stood up after finishing his drink, and put the vial of blood into his coat  
pocket.  
  
Sara's house, 7:22 PM   
  
Sara woke up in time to see the moon slowly reveal its face from behind some clouds, and  
grimaced as she gently probed her stomach where she had been punched. *Ow. Well, the bruise  
should last for another hour or so, but I think that I'll be fine. I wonder how Six and Zack are doing?*  
Sara got out of bed, and feeling queasy, she only drank a glassful of water in lieu of her usual meal.  
Soon, she was flipping through a phone book, and had found Dr. Zack's number relatively quickly.  
*Okay, one call, and then I'm going to rest for a long time.* She dialled the number, and waited as  
the connection went through.  
"Hello?"  
"Is this Dr. Zack?"  
"Yes. What can I do for you?"  
"It's Sara. I was wondering about something that... assailed me last night. It may involve my  
nanomachines, so you're probably the only person in the city who can help me."  
"I see. Could you come over and talk about it? I don't want to talk about something like that  
over the phone."  
"I'm sorry, but I'm fairly sore due to an internal injury that occurred yesterday, and I don't  
want to exacerbate the wound. I won't be going anywhere for at least two days, if my nanomachines  
are capable of repairing the damage."  
"I hope you recuperate quickly, and maybe I should come over to your place if you are this  
concerned about what happened."  
"Um, no. I guess it's not extremely important, but maybe I'll come over to your place  
tomorrow at about 6 PM, if that's alright with you."  
"Well, I think that you're the final authority on what's going on in your body, but, yes you  
can come over tomorrow at that time."  
"Thank you Dr. Zack. I'll be there."  
"You're welcome Sara. See you soon."  
Sara hung up and stretched her arms behind her back, but stopped quickly when she felt a  
ligament loosen from its mooring in her right shoulder. *Dammit! I've always had the ligament  
problem, but it seems to be getting worse. Sometimes I just want to fall asleep and never wake up.  
Of course, that'll never happen.* Sara sighed, then went back into her room and lay on her bed, soon  
falling asleep again.  
  
Dr. Zack's House   
  
Dr. Zack hung up the telephone after his conversation with Sara, and mulled over the possible  
meanings of her call. *What are the possibilities? She said that something had assailed her, but later  
said something about her nanomachines having only a possibility of repairing the supposed internal  
damage she had suffered. What could it mean?  
*Normally, when someone is assailed, it's just a fancy way of saying that they had been beaten  
up. However, Sara seems capable of handling herself in a fight, and the news footage of her killing  
that Fixed Idea bare-handed proves that. Might it be something that didn't affect her directly? Instead  
of attacking her physically, she might have been attacked through her limitations.  
*Durallex is non-magnetic, so whatever happened didn't affect her artificial bones. However,  
I wonder what would happen if she had been exposed to a strong electro-magnetic field? Maybe  
that's the answer.* Zack lit his pipe and puffed away for a few minutes, thinking about possible  
variations and extra permutations that might modify his idea, but eventually stopped after scribbling  
the rough outline onto a pad of paper nearby.  
After putting out his pipe, he then went to his basement laboratory, and after checking on his  
production facility, which was currently producing about thirty metres of spider webbing per hour,  
and in another section, he saw that another three synthetic rubies were almost at a size where he  
could sell them for his usual profit. Dr. Zack then walked over to the computer he was currently using  
for research and logged onto the internet. He activated several of the clandestine search engines that  
had built-in hacking systems, and searched for 'The Knife' under several criteria, including bounty  
hunting organizations.  
The only matches that weren't junk were in the bounty hunting criteria, and in there Dr. Zack  
found only snippets of information. Eventually he found an online newspaper that had archived old  
articles, including a three-part story on a series of grisly murders, all of which were connected to what  
appeared to be someone who wielded archaic weapons, and disappeared like a chameleon when seen.  
Many people called the person 'the Ghost's Knife', but when a picture finally appeared, Dr. Zack was  
disappointed at the low quality of the image, but he downloaded it anyhow and hoped that one of his  
image-enhancing programs would pry some information out of the old photo.  
Dr. Zack then jumped to another site, this one being the International Bounty Hunter's  
Society (with more than a million registered hunters online). There, he searched for both names, and  
found several matches. After cruising through all of them, Dr. Zack smiled and muttered 'Eureka'  
under his breath.  
On the screen, he was looking at a very good picture of a woman, covered in a dark purple  
bodysuit which looked like a full-body suit of scale mail. Her face was obscured by more of the  
armour, revealing only her eyes and her dark red hair. Also, she was wearing a long cape, seemingly  
made of the same substance as the armour, and obscuring her arms and legs in such a way as to hide  
any weapons. The one thing that even remotely looked like a weapon was three small half-spheres  
running along the back of the woman's wrist, one of which was glowing a pale green.  
Dr. Zack looked at the bio information underneath the picture, and his eyes widened as he  
looked through the long list. *My god! She's been officially hunting for about three years now, and  
she's been in almost every hot spot in the world during that time frame. Let me see, there are few  
details about the missions, but the basic types are listed... amazing! This person, despite looking like  
a stone cold killer, has only done three assassinations, and all the rest are either search and rescue or  
bodyguard missions.  
*Let me see, apparently, she's early twenties, about five-eight, and prefers payment in either  
cash or uncommon items. This says that her current daily rate is about ten thousand dollars, in  
Canadian funds!? That's almost fifteen thousand here. I wonder why this person is here. Hello, what's  
this?* Zack scrolled down the text information, and found a small footnote at the bottom of the page.  
*She won't take any contracts in the United States or Canada? I wonder why? Maybe she's  
connected to Sara in some way. Not likely, but it always pays to keep my options open.*  
Dr. Zack saved the website url to his bookmarks, then turned off his computer and closed his  
eyes. Eventually, he went upstairs and got ready to go to sleep when he noticed that it was past  
midnight.  
  
In Jose's Mansion, 8:30 PM   
  
Jose swore liberally as he injudiciously swivelled his chair around, making it smack into the  
heavy wood of his desk. The resultant shockwaves made the chair vibrate, which ignored the heavy  
padding he was sitting on, and allowing another painful jolt run through his still-sore butt. *Damn  
bitch. Not only did she not accord me the proper respect I'm due, but when she kicked me, she gave  
me a spin that allowed my butt to go through that window first. Hell, I bet she's laughing at me from  
wherever she is now.*  
Jose, instead of being quiet though, swore again, allowing Jess and M-17 the excuse to walk  
into his room. Jess was still slightly scorched, her face reddened and her hair blackened by the  
explosion that had claimed five of her siblings. M-17 was in hardly better condition, with her left arm  
heavily stitched and bandaged from where the same woman had knifed her, and most of her chest and  
arms were masses of bruises from the beating she had taken when the stack of crates had collapsed  
underneath her.  
Jose knew of M-17's bruises because, when she was being treated for the deep gouge running  
along her arm, he had peeped in, and had the immense enjoyment of seeing the deadly teen stripped  
to her skivvies as the medical techno sewed the wound closed. However, he didn't have time to enjoy  
it as several other technos, including Jess, had to hold him down as glass was pried from his nether  
regions with what had felt (to him) like they were using the jaws of life on each piece.  
"That woman is even worse than CyberSix. She deliberately infiltrated the meeting, convinced  
the other bounty hunters to follow her instead of me, and to add insult to injury, she attacked us. I  
want her dead, and I'd happily dine on plates made of her bones, with a cup made from her skull."  
Jess winced at the descriptive violence used in Jose's tone, but she agreed wholeheartedly with his  
assessment. M-17 grinned and cracked her knuckles, unmindful that the bandage was slowly  
dissolving from the acidic content of her sustenance-laced blood.  
"Hell, when I find her, I'm going to do a hell of a lot worse to her. First, I'm going to flay her  
alive, then I'll dig her eyes, tongue, and eventually, her heart out with my bare hands." Jose snorted  
in derision, and M-17 prodded his chair over with her boot, allowing him to smack into the opposite  
side of the desk, which sent another spine of pain through him.   
"Jose, you're an ass. I said I'd kill her, and that's what I'm going to do. If you're lucky, I'll  
be tired enough afterwards to not kill you."  
"Riiight M-17. You're forgetting your current mission: to kill this woman." Jose pointed at  
a copy of the picture that M-17 had shredded before, then tapped the person's face.  
"Fuck you too Jose. I'm going after that woman, and your little mission will wait until I'm  
done with her." The heavy door rattled slightly as M-17 left, but Jose was glad that she hadn't torn  
it off its hinges, like she had done when she found out he was peeping on the female members of the  
garrison.  
"Jess, you're slightly redeemed due to your skill in there. I'm taking you off latrine duty  
starting tomorrow, but you still have to deal with being a perimeter guard."  
"Thanks. I won't forget this." *You pompous ass, you nearly got us killed by walking in there  
and pissing off everyone. You're lucky that only that woman survived, and I'm not that good with  
the rifle. Hell, the only reason why I'm still alive is because that woman avoided me.* Jess walked  
out of Jose's room, leaving him to yowl in pain as he swivelled his chair around, bashing into the desk  
again. *Moron.*  
  
North America, 11:48 PM   
  
"Sir?"  
"What? I'm busy right now"  
"Yes, you do need a bit more practice on your golf game."  
"Do you want me to show you how I get rid of pains in my ass? It involves a baseball bat and  
your skull."  
"Yes sir. The charge wave was confirmed, but we've had a setback."  
"Who got killed this time?"  
"The executive officer of our spec-ops."  
"WHAT!?!"  
"He was practising with the new 2mm gauss weapons when the capacitor in the rifle  
overloaded. The explosion took his head off, along with most of his right side."  
"Damn. I knew we should've held off on active testing until we fixed that problem. How long  
will the delay be?"  
"The team will be in Meridiana in six months."  
"That long? She may escape."  
"As far as we know, she doesn't know about the satellite scans that picked her up, unless her  
skills at picking off traces are better than we thought."  
"She's good, but not that good. Is everything else on schedule?"  
"Yes, sir."  
"Good. You're going with the team to find and retrieve her."  
"Me?"  
"Yes, you. She still has a connection with you, and I want that connection used against her.  
Train yourself in the armour, and get your small arms skills up to at least passable standards first.  
Now, get out. You ruined my putt, so if I see you again before she's back, I'll take this club to your  
head."  
"Yes sir. I'll see her placed in your hands before eight months have passed by."  
"I expect utmost secrecy on this one. You know what will happen otherwise..."  
"Yes, I remember that incident." 


	14. Six Months Later...

Six months later   
  
Sara had recovered from her injuries only days after her run-in with M-17 and Jose, but was  
seized by occasional bouts of weakness at least once a week. With Dr. Zack's help, Sara soon found  
out that her nanomachines had suffered from the equivalent of an EMP, which had destroyed many  
of them, and temporarily disabled the rest. Sara still went out hunting, usually using her armour, and  
had racked up a kill tally of almost a hundred greenskins before M-17 returned to pound Sara into  
paste.  
The two women, with their renewed grudge match, proceeded to get into massive fights  
which ended only when both people were too tired to fight anymore, or when CyberSix dropped in  
unexpectedly. Both women had learned much about the other's fighting styles, but M-17 was usually  
the one getting injured by the end of each brawl. In the most recent fight, Sara led 17 on a not-so  
merry chase through a smelting refinery a few miles south of the city, which ended when Sara got  
lucky and broke 17's right arm above and below the elbow.  
Being very pissed off at the time, Sara left 17 there to die, bleeding out from the compound  
fractures, but somehow the psychotic teen survived and is almost ready for more. Sara herself has  
gone to the hospital for blood transfusions, but more often than could be considered normal due to  
the wounds she also occasionally suffered from. Oddly enough, the principal at the school was fairly  
understanding about Sara's debility, and she was allowed more sick leave than the average teacher.  
Lori had become a minor asset in Sara's mundane life, as the prank-loving teen took a shine  
to Sara's eternally disgusting jokes and myriad pranks, and soon learned how to torment Lucas in  
almost every way that wouldn't get her arrested. Erin also remained friends with Sara, and  
occasionally teamed up with Sara's hunting persona when bored. Hazel Smith, Sara's problem  
student, remained as an unapproachable bastion most of the time, but always showed respect to Sara  
for some reason.  
Lucas and Adrian stuck on as Sara's friends, despite the visual knowledge that Sara was  
steadily losing ground with her illness. Lucas constantly made references to toothpicks, but Sara often  
didn't care about his ribbing to respond. Adrian also tried to keep Sara smiling, but often the jokes  
fell flat. Dr. Zack was concerned about Sara's condition, and nagged at Reba to put Sara through a  
battery of tests the next time she went into the hospital. He then found out something that put a third  
side into the mix.  
  
Saturday, April 20. North US.   
  
"Sir?"  
"Where is she? You said you'd contact me when you have her."  
"Sorry sir, but the team is only moving out now. We have a seven-hour flight ahead of us."  
"Hmm. Did the researchers find out what went wrong with the Gauss rifle capacitors?"  
"Yes, they did. Apparently, the magnetic field firing the slug was too strong, and the EM  
feedback sent a surge through the capacitor. That ruptured the coils, which destroyed the weapon  
in question, not to mention killing the user."  
"Dammit. Issue the Gauss pistols instead of the rifles. We at least cleared out the problems  
with that one. Also, use AP ammo in all your guns. If she won't come with us peacefully, make sure  
that her body is totally unrecognisable."  
"Yes sir. We're going now, so I'll sign off now."  
Dr. Zack's house, 7:00 PM   
  
"So, as we can see, the nanomachines are rebuilding themselves, but at the expense of letting  
the disease in your body run rampant. That's part of the reason why you're feeling so weak, Sara."  
"Thanks for the info Tony. Well, there probably won't be anything we can do now." Sara  
looked like she was surrounded by a death-like pallor, with her pale skin looking like it was covered  
in ash. Dr. Zack was concerned as Sara became even more withdrawn, her characteristic good  
humour having been repeatedly worn at by the waves of bad news that had assaulted her for the last  
few weeks. "Sara, why do you say that? I've never seen anyone like this, and there seems to be  
nothing wrong with your life right now."  
Sara looked at the person who spoke, and smiled slightly. "Thanks for trying Six. Actually,  
I should tell you why I came here in the first place." Sara looked up, and her eyes changed from a dull  
murkiness into the clear hues that Six remembered from when she first met Sara.  
"Well, I said that my grandparents were killed a while ago, and that's true, but there's one  
other reason. I'm running."  
"Okay, if that's not a mysterious statement then I don't know what is."  
"Let me finish Six. I'm actually in hiding from a very amoral mega-corporation called Gen-  
Core. They were the ones that financed my operations, and they also trained me in firearms and  
martial arts. After being indentured to them for almost two years, I broke away from them after a  
nasty little bit in Africa where I had been ordered to help safeguard a camp of slavers." Sara noticed  
that both Dr. Zack and Six had looks of intense disgust on their faces at the mention of slavers, but  
she forged on.  
"After I broke away from Gen-Core, I wandered the world for a while, trying to keep under  
their radar. I collected some interesting items in my wanderings, including a sword that is currently  
collecting dust in my basement. Eventually I made my way here, and decided that the one place where  
nobody sane would willingly go would be perfect for keeping me out of the public eye." Sara snorted  
derisively, then smiled. "Guess how well that worked."  
Six smiled as part of Sara's wit returned, cutting through the cloud of gloom like a knife  
through butter. "Okay, so you haven't exactly kept a low profile down here. Now why does this  
company have you so worried?"  
"They have equipment that's almost out of this world. I saw prototypes of something called  
'reactive combat armour' which looked like scale mail bodysuits, and prototype Gauss rifles."  
"Wait a minute. You said that the combat armour looked like a bodysuit right? Well, Six saw  
something a few months ago that would correspond with your description."  
"That's right Sara. About six months ago, I first saw the person who Tony's referring to. She  
calls herself the Knife, and may be an assassin sent by this company to capture or kill you."  
"That doesn't sound like the Gen-Core that I knew. Their idea of retrieving someone involved  
twenty heavily armed men, most of which were told to shoot on sight. Either they've mellowed out,  
or there's another escapee out there." *Heh, even my friends don't know that the Knife and I are one  
and the same.* "Look, if you have any more information, please tell me. If necessary, I'll try my old  
access codes in the company's site to see if I could get any information, but I promise that they'll hunt  
me down that much faster."  
"Sara, it's your risk, so I'm not condoning anything you do, but I recommend that you don't  
do it. Especially with the possibility of an assassin wandering about." Dr. Zack puffed on his pipe, and  
looked at Sara again. She still looked like the core of her being had been burned out, but the remnants  
alone seemed to shine with pure determination.  
Sara nodded and stood up. She flexed her right arm slightly, wincing as her elbow seemed to  
shift around. "Well, I have to go. Thanks for the tea Tony. It was good to see both of you again."  
With that, she nodded to Dr. Zack, smiled at Six, and walked back to her house. Dr. Zack and Six  
both moved to a window that overlooked the sidewalk and watched as Sara paused underneath a  
streetlight, apparently looking at the night sky through the glare of the city's lights.  
"She seems... lost. Alone. Almost afraid."  
"Six, you've just managed to hit the nail on the head. Sara no longer has anything tying her  
down in life, with her grandparents dead, and she's had no contact with the rest of her family since  
she had been infected with that disease six years ago. I'm not sure, but at the school, when she had  
her birthday, she got nothing from any of her living relations. Honestly, I'm not sure that they know  
she's alive, and that may be what she wants from them."  
"Well, that explains the part of her being alone, but lost? I think that's caused by her not  
making many friends here. Her oldest friend here is Lucas, and he admits that he knows almost  
nothing about her except for her disgusting sense of humour. But what's bothering me was what is  
always in the back of her eyes. Sara's not just hiding from a company. She may also be hiding from  
her past, or maybe her future."  
"Well, be that as it may, we have a few leads to try and get through, and maybe find out  
what's eating her."  
"Tony, that was a very morbid joke. We both know full well what's eating her, and I hate it  
as much as you do." The two friends watched as Sara finished her contemplation, but they didn't  
move as Sara walked slowly to her house, gazing at the ground by her feet. "I just don't like seeing  
her like this. She's turned into a shell, just going through the motions of living. Even her students are  
beginning to wonder about it. Erin talked to me about it yesterday just after school, and she's  
notorious for only looking out for herself."  
"Hmm. Well, I'd better try and find out some information about this company. If I'm right,  
they could be worse than Reichter."  
"Okay. I'm going out to try and keep a lid on the Fixed Ideas, but I will try and keep in touch.  
See you soon."  
"Goodbye Six. Have a good night."  
  
Jose's Mansion 8:30PM   
  
"Jose!!!" M-17's shout rattled the windows in the dining hall, where the stunted clone was  
busy tucking into a snack before his bedtime. "What?" Jose spat out pieces of the meat and cheese  
sandwich, but was occupied by M-17's left arm snaking out and grappling him around the throat,  
choking him.  
"Why the hell did you put me on such a pathetic duty? Even Jess didn't deserve the latrines,  
and now you're telling me that I'm on kitchen patrol? You really wanna cut down on your snacks,  
is that it?" Jose was turning a pale shade of purple as he tried to get some air into his system, so M-17  
loosened her choke-hold for a few seconds.  
"Fine, I'll tell you. First, you're unfit for duty, unless you want to try and beat that bounty  
hunter with one arm. Second, you've failed in your three missions."  
"What three missions?"  
"One: Kill CyberSix. Two: Kill that hunter. Three: give me a show for the hidden camera in  
the women's shower room."  
"You Little BASTARD!!!" M-17's face turned beet red as Jose cackled, but he was cut short  
as she swivelled around and walked into the kitchen, carrying him underneath her good arm.  
"W-what are you going to do to me now? Put me in the oven? Bake me?"  
"No. That would be an insult to the oven. I'm gonna chuck you in the freezer for a few hours.  
Better make sure you're bundled up..." M-17 opened the heavy doors to the meat locker, tossed Jose  
in, and closed the door before he could recover from his impact against a slab of beef. She then leaned  
against the frame, and heard Jose try and batter his way out of the freezing room.  
"Hey, little boy."  
"What?"  
"You want me to turn it down a bit? I can always do that..."  
"NO! Please. I'm sorry about the shower room joke."  
"Bullshit. If I let you out of there, will you tell me where the cameras are?"  
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!! Now will you let me out?"  
"In an hour. Better keep moving around in there. The thermostat says that it's almost ten  
below in there."  
"Gee thanks. Can you turn it up?"  
"Probably. Will you take me off KP and the unfit roster?"  
"Fine! You're off KP, but the doctor has to pull you off the unfit roster. You know the rules."  
"Well, I can try. I'll see you around." M-17 moved a few feet away from the freezer, and  
instead of leaving, she waited for Jose to do the predictable thing, and heard him bounce off the steel  
door before she flipped open a cell phone and hit one of the speed-dial buttons.  
"Hey, Jess? You wanna see something really funny? Come down to the kitchen and look in  
the freezer. I'll see you there." Soon, Jess walked into the kitchen, and went over to where M-17 was  
leaning against a wall, eating a sandwich.  
"So, who'd you toss into the freezer? Jose?"  
"Yep. Let's check on the popsicle. He's been pretty quiet for the last five minutes." The two  
women walked to the freezer, and M-17 opened the door, allowing the misty air to boil out into the  
warmer room. They waited for the fog to settle around the level of their knees, then walked into the  
locker. "Jose, where are you? Did you get stuck to one of the legs of lamb someone had smuggled  
in here a few days ago?"  
"F-f-f-f-fuck you too 17."  
"Cute. We're letting you out now. When you get into the kitchen, I'm just gonna toss you into  
your bed, but you'd better keep your end of the bargain by tomorrow."  
"A-a-a-all right. Y-y-you win." Jose climbed out of the split carcass he had been hiding in, and  
fell to the floor because he had lost most of the feeling in his hands and feet. M-17 and Jess, barely  
keeping from breaking out in laughter, got Jose into his room, where he warmed up, then the two left  
to plot their revenge on the larger thorn in their side.  
  
Sara's house, 9:00 PM   
  
Sara had just finished marking the labs she had gotten from her students on Friday, and slowly  
sat up, allowing the kinks in her muscles to loosen up as she then walked upstairs to the bathroom.  
*Ow. I'm not getting any worse, but it's really taking a lot out of me just to keep the pain I'm in from  
showing up. Everyone that I consider a friend is worried about me, with Six being the forerunner in  
the concern department. Hell, even Hazel is beginning to ask questions about my well-being, and  
she's notorious for being unapproachable at any time.* Sara winced as a familiar jolt of pain sent its  
way through her right side, then walked into the bathroom, stripping off her shirt at the same time.  
She paused as she looked in the mirror at her reflection, and grimaced as she traced the scars  
on her chest and arms. *I've had at least four major surgeries, and as a result, I've been shot, stabbed,  
bludgeoned, tossed out of moving cars, and been used as target practice over the last four years. I  
hate my life. Hell, why don't I end it?* Sara started to turn on the water in the bathtub, planning on  
a long soak to remove the last vestiges of tension in her muscles, and a small voice in her head  
allowed her to have an internal dialogue  
*'Simple. If you ended it, you'd never get into heaven, and hell would kick you out for  
unnecessary roughness.' 'Gee, thanks for that unflattering comment. Why don't you go back into  
hiding again? After all, my memories are probably getting lonely.' 'Yeah, you'd like me to shut up  
wouldn't you? Not gonna happen. You know that when Gen-Core comes for us he'll be there as  
well.' 'Thanks for that reminder. As if I wanted to think of that wrinkle. After all, they'll definitely  
be using the armour, and probably have weapons that can punch through it to boot.' 'Fine, I'll shut  
up now. It's your life after all. After all, who'd wanna listen to the person who got us out of the  
company's clutches in the first place?'*  
Sara frowned, and turned off the taps after noticing that the water was nice and steaming. She  
then pulled off her pants, removed her skivvies, and slowly climbed into the large tub, letting the  
warm water work its magic, easing her cramped muscles and roiling mind. However, she didn't have  
long to enjoy the bath, because the doorbell rang ten minutes later. *Ah FUCK! If that's a door-to-  
door salesman, I won't care if I get slapped with a murder charge.* Sara got out of the tub slowly,  
swearing silently at Murphy's Law as she wrapped a huge towel around herself.  
She then walked down to the front door and growled slightly as the person leaned on the  
doorbell. Sara opened the door, and was suddenly grateful that the towel was long enough to go past  
her knees. "Well, how are you doing today, Reba?"  
"Pretty good. You however, seem to be falling apart at an exponential rate. I have some  
results here that are almost nauseating."  
"Umm Reba, this is actually a bit of a bad time. I was actually trying to relax for a while, and  
well, as you can see..."  
"Yeah, I noticed. Must be a bit drafty. I'll just give you a copy of the printout instead of  
boring you to tears. By the way, thanks for catching that new flu virus that's making the rounds. Now  
we can inoculate all the people at risk before they catch it."  
"Well, I owed you, and besides, it got me away from the classroom for a good week. Thanks  
Reba. I'll try to get some details from you tomorrow, okay?"  
"Sure. Take it easy, get some rest, and take two Asprin." Reba gave Sara a folder of loose  
papers from her small briefcase, which was instantly placed on a small table nearby.  
"Thanks for the advice. I'll see you tomorrow." Sara smiled slightly, saluted Reba by patting  
the diminutive doctor on the top of her head, and closed the door. *Now, back to the bath...*  
Outside, as Sara was walking upstairs, she heard Reba's response to her salute. "If you weren't my  
patient, I'd ..." 


	15. The Rivers Run Red

Sunday, Apr. 21 2:13 AM   
Meridiana Airport   
  
The night shift had just hit its 'dead time' at the airport, and the three traffic controllers were  
bored out of their skulls. One had already fallen asleep, leaning back in his swivel chair with his feet  
propped up on the radar screen. The other two were tired looking at the darkened hangars where the  
surplus military helicopters were in storage, throwing pieces of paper at the heavy window.  
"So, what're you going to do when the shift's over?"  
"Dunno, Jim. Maybe I'll wake Ted up and jump his bones until Eight."  
"Cute Melissa. Why don't you keep your sex life to yourself? Hey, what's that out there?"  
"Very funny Jim. Last time you tried that, it ended up with me having a sore neck for a week."  
Melissa looked out the window anyhow, and frowned as she saw something move near one  
of the closer hangars. She gestured for the extra-large binoculars that were near Ted's sleeping form,  
and after Jim gave them to her, she took a closer look at the low building.  
"Hey, did some incompetent leave that hangar door open? I thought it was SOP for those  
doors to be locked after Eight PM."  
"You're right. Hey, you have the binox, so can you tell me if someone's moving something  
about there? Why don't we activate the floodlights there?"  
"Good idea. The switch is over by the fire alarm."  
Jim nodded, and walked over to the mercury-vapour halogen lamp switch, where he then  
flipped all the switches over to the 'on' position. The entire airport was bathed in intense bluish-white  
light, and both people could clearly see that the hangar door had actually been ripped off its sliding  
track, and that something was moving out there.  
"My god! What the hell happened there? It looks like something's moving around there, but  
I can't... figure... OH SHIT!!!"  
Melissa dropped to the floor as something dropped onto the walkway outside the tower,  
landing with a dull clang as the heavy-gauge steel grid dented under the form's feet. Jim scrambled  
for the AK-74 that was always in the tower as insurance against a hijacking attempt, and as he cocked  
the heavy assault rifle, the thing outside slammed its hands against the bulletproof glass window. Jim  
stood up as the glass buckled inwards, spraying shards around the small room.  
"Holy shit! Melissa, hit the fucking button! It's right beside you!" Jim shouted loudly as the  
window finished its slow collapse, and watched, seemingly frozen in time as Ted was the first to die.  
The unknown assailant, seemingly loath to squeeze through the shattered remains of the window,  
reached into the room with an impossibly long arm and simply wrapped itself around Ted's throat.  
Ted woke up almost instantly, totally at odds with his imitation of a chainsaw during the destruction  
of the window.  
His rise to action did nothing to save him, however as the long limb twisted his head about  
so viciously that it shredded the tendons and bones in his neck, leaving his head to flop loosely about  
on a tag of skin as the sudden increase in torsion literally yanked his head off its moorings. Ted's  
body spasmed loosely for a few seconds, blood squirting liberally from the severed carotids, which  
bathed Melissa in steaming gore as the body collapsed into a pool of the viscous fluid.  
Melissa just sat there, huddled underneath a desk, repeatedly jabbing the silent alarm button  
beside her. Her eyes were fixed on the blank gaze of her lover's eyes as they glazed over, but when  
they were obscured by a large black shape falling between them, she looked up at the hulking form  
wearing a black suit that seemed to shift slightly as she watched. At the same time, Jim opened fire  
with his gun, spraying bullets everywhere.  
Melissa watched, frozen, as at least six of the 7.62 mm slugs slapped into the figure's chest  
and mid-section, but Jim had fired wildly and she dimly felt four bullets slam into her own chest,  
twisting her body around before she fell completely to the ground. As her vision faded, Melissa  
watched as the figure stood up from its half-crouch, and, taking three strides to Jim while easily  
taking another dozen shots in its chest, raised its left arm.  
The last thing Melissa saw before the world turned black was a quick blur that ended with  
Jim's chest making a noise like someone had just punched a hole through gristle with a wooden post.  
  
Twenty Minutes Later   
  
The four police cars had been joined by an unmarked jeep and three ambulances, two of which  
were just pulling away, with their flashers turned off. The huge man leaning against the jeep had rarely  
seen things that could disgust him, with the worst example being the remains of three young girls that  
had been viciously murdered by a child molester only weeks after he had become a police officer at  
the first precinct. Enrique frowned, folding his massive arms over his chest.  
"So, you're telling me that forensics has already given the place a once-over and said that it's  
a crime of passion? That's a bag of bullshit and you know it. Why don't you tell me what actually  
happened in there?"  
"Look, you're only a detective, but you're the best on the force so that's why you're getting  
this case in the first place. Now, in actuality, the two men were brutally murdered, one had his head  
almost totally twisted off, and the other had what could best be described as a spike slammed through  
his chest. You saw that one. He looked like someone had turned his torso inside out."  
"Yeah. Can I take a look at the murder scene?"  
"Fine, go ahead. Just don't blame me when the forensics team jumps down your throat."  
"Thanks Cap. I owe you a coffee."  
Enrique saluted his captain, who had transferred into his precinct less than a year ago, then  
walked up the rickety stairway to the control tower. Once there, he looked through one of the grimy  
windows at the lurid splashes of blood, with the two largest stains being near one of the swivel chairs  
and against the wall near where a smashed AK-74 had been found. That piece of evidence worried  
Enrique more than the brutal deaths of the air traffic controllers, mainly because it told him that  
something like CyberSix probably had a hand in the hideous mayhem.  
He walked into the room, and instantly regretted the move due to the increased temperature  
in there, making the place smell like a piece of beef hung on a tree for a few weeks. *Gah! How the  
hell could something happen like this? Wait a sec, what happened over at the chopper hangar?*  
Enrique walked over to one of the cops that was taking pictures of the bloodstains, and tapped the  
person on the shoulder.  
"Hey, c'mere you. Now, has anyone investigated that wrecked hangar? Those doors look like  
they've been pulled off their tracks by something."  
"Wow. I didn't see that. I'll get some friends over there to clear the area."  
"Good. Now, I'm supposed to be investigating this case, and this definitely doesn't look like  
any crime of passion, unless one of the people was a tentacled blob from outer space. Report to me,  
and me only."  
"Yes Detective. Now, if you could excuse me, we need some more light on this stain, and  
you're in the way."  
"Very funny. Turn on your camera's flash."  
"Oh."  
"I'll see you around."  
Enrique patted the cop on the shoulder, then walked back to ground level before leaning  
against the concrete wall. He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. After his brief  
respite, he walked back to his jeep and drove to the first precinct, where his first job was to put on  
a pot of immensely strong coffee, just so he could get up to speed.  
  
Shipping Warehouse #27, 7:52 AM   
  
The twenty-one men were clustered around a trestle table, all looking at identical copies of  
a dossier that only two had seen before.  
"This is our target. Selina Del Naryen, better known as either the Knife, or the Ghost's  
Knife."  
The person's proclamation was instantly followed by a cluster of swearing, but the language  
was damped by a sharp glare.  
"We have reason to believe that she is heavily armed, and has had extensive use in the original  
version of the armour you have been supplied with. However, we have the carrier frequency that'll  
shut down her armour's offensive programs, and that will definitely even the playing field to our  
advantage."  
"Sir? What do you mean 'level the playing field'? She's only one person."  
"Yes, with more combat experience that you've ever had, and the ability to heal from grievous  
injuries in less than two days. I personally saw her recover from having a scoop taken out of her side  
by a great white shark in just under four days. I doubt that any one of you could do that."  
"What the fuck!? I don't believe that."  
"Fine, don't. Look at the fourth picture again. See the scars in an arc along her stomach?  
Those were caused by the shark's teeth. Apparently, she wears a pendant made up of one of those  
teeth, but I warn you again: she's more dangerous than any five of you combined."  
The oldest person there, a heavyset man with a badly reset nose nodded severely. "Damn right  
she's dangerous. Several years ago, she broke off of an extended mission in Africa, and broke my  
beak at the same time. At the time, she only knew how to properly control two-thirds of her armour's  
functions, but I'm more concerned about her card weapons."  
"Men, please turn to the fourth page in the portfolio. Once there, you'll notice that our subject  
has a pair of .50 cal magnums as her weapons of choice, but knowing that our armour is immune to  
that level of ammo, she'll probably be forced to resort to her chemical explosives. Now, due to the  
fact that we've had no contact with her until now, she probably has some undocumented weapons  
with her, and they may be powerful enough to punch through our stuff."  
"Like what? The only thing that could hurt us in this is an Avenger Gatling gun from an A-  
10." The other men chuckled slightly at the joke, but both senior men frowned.  
"Hah. You wish. Your armour is tough, but not that tough. If you get hit by a 30 mm slug,  
you're not gonna get up unless it hits your hand. Finally, never, repeat, never get into close combat  
with her. She could give someone like King Arthur lessons on how to use an edged weapon, and  
she's a vicious knife-fighter as well. Even though the armour will stop something from punching  
through, it's less effective against a slashing attack."  
"Gee, you're making her sound like the be-all and end-all of this squad."  
"That could happen. We also have knowledge that she has close contact with Dr. Anthony  
Zacharias, and we have a second mission: Capture or kill him as soon as possible."  
"Well, you just chucked a wrench into the works, boss. So, why don't you tell us why we  
should trust these gauss pistols? The rifle took off my XO's head when it misfired."  
"Sorry about that, but we've made sure that those little buggers won't screw up anything  
except what you're shooting at. For example, let's say that the crate over there is a hostile. Watch  
this."  
The man pulled his own gauss pistol and aimed it at the crate. As he squeezed the trigger, the  
pistol made a noise like a miniature thunderclap, and the crate, instead of having a hole punched  
through it, was sent, in long splinters, into the far wall, leaving the sheet metal pin-cushioned by the  
remnants of the container.  
"Now, if that was a person, he or she would have a hole in them almost identical in size to that  
produced by an 88 shell. This is caused by the fact that each slug is moving at Mach 12, and produces  
a localized plasma explosion at the impact point because of the properties of energy."  
"Right. Say that in terms that a person can understand, instead of spouting off more scientific  
gobbledygook. Actually, we have something to ask you now: What the hell were you doing at the  
airport at 2 AM?"  
"Classified."  
"Bull shit. You saw the keg of beer we had put in the chopper, and wanted to bring it along.  
Now, we have a good thirty-six hours before we have free reign of this city, so get some rest, but in  
rotating shifts. I don't want any punks finding us before the mission starts."  
"Yeah, whatever. Wake me up in twelve hours."  
"Wrong kiddo. Due to your insubordination, you get first watch. See you in eight hours."  
The squad dispersed, taking their copies of the dossiers with them. Left standing by the table  
was the young man, and despite his anger at being ordered to take first watch, he knew he had some  
time to re-memorize the information in the dossier. *When I find you Selina, I'm gonna make sure  
that there'll be nothing even remotely recognisable to human when the boss gets you. But first, we'll  
remember the old times...*  
  
Dr. Zack's house, 8:39 AM   
  
Dr. Zack had awakened at Seven in the morning, and after his usual morning ablutions and  
breakfast, he went downstairs into his lab. The first thing he did was check the prototype sustenance  
generation unit that had sprawled out onto three worktables. When he finished making sure that the  
notoriously temperamental machine was still in working order, Dr. Zack then whooped in joy when  
he noticed that the distillation chamber was almost full of the familiar glowing green liquid, instead  
of the botched batches of various shades, ranging from almost black to neon yellow.  
*All right! If the rest of the day turns out like this, then everyone who relies on this will be  
ecstatic.* Zack put a mental damper on his enthusiasm however when he thought of his neighbour.  
*Damn. This won't do much to help Sara. I wonder if the research I've done can change the upgrade  
program. Maybe then she won't have to avoid everything with an EM signature.* Dr. Zack walked  
around the unwieldy machine, and booted up his computer.  
As the system finished starting up, he quickly booted up an oft-used program which produced  
a 3-D image of one of his custom designs for nanomachinery. *This could be useful, especially  
because it has the program transferral interface already installed. Let's see... all I have to do is supply  
the right algorithm to make the next upgrade produce EM shielding instead of everything else. Heh.  
This program might be more difficult than I thought, so I guess I'll have to get some professional  
help. Hmm... Erin knows a lot about programming, but I don't think she has much experience with  
the size constraints imposed on nano-programming.  
*What the heck, she'll probably produce something that's half the size of what I could do, and  
most likely in less time as well. Well, I'd better call her soon, and she'd better like the idea of raiding  
my cupboards again.* Dr. Zack smiled at the mental image of Erin being forced to wake up to the  
insistent ringing of her phone, then took actions to thoughts and dialled her number. The phone rang  
at least six times before Erin answered.  
"Mrrrghhh..."  
"Hello Erin. How are you this fine morning?"  
"Mrrrghhh... What the hell are you doing, calling me at such an ungodly hour?"  
"Waking you up for tomorrow. After all, you do have to suffer through my class first, so I  
want to insure that the school intern survives the first hour and a half."  
"Gee thanks. Cut to the chase before I cut the line."  
"Fine. I would like you over here so I can mooch off of your programming expertise. And  
because I've always believed in a fair trade, you can go after the junk food supplies I always have  
floating about in the kitchen."  
"Free food? All right, I'm in. Let me get myself in order, and I'll be over in about twenty  
minutes. Hey, waitamin... Zack, are you watching TV? There's a news report going on about some  
rather grisly murders at the airport. Apparently, one person had his head ripped off, another had a  
hole punched through him, and the last person had been shot at close range with an assault rifle.  
Messy."  
"Thanks for the synopsis. I'll catch it on the news at noon. Maybe we'll get lucky and have  
finished this bit as well."  
"Okay. See ya soon. Ciao!"  
Dr. Zack hung up, then started whistling a tune he remembered from his childhood as he went  
back upstairs to wait for the cybernetically enhanced teen. Just as he got to his living room on the way  
to the kitchen, his eyes fell on the folder Reba had given him last night. *Maybe I should take a look  
at this. After all, it might have some interesting tidbits in it.* He flipped the folder to the most recent  
entry and stopped dead in his tracks. Rereading the short passage, Dr. Zack felt something he  
couldn't describe fall over him.  
*My god. Sara's debility is not just caused by her disease running rampant, but something  
worse. This is just horrendous.* Dr. Zack mentally tried to figure out all the ramifications, but ended  
up with the only one that made any sense. *I'm sorry to even think this Sara, but no matter what  
happens, you'll be dead in less than two months. The internal damage done to you by the unknown  
sources over the last six months has allowed deadly levels of natural toxins to accumulate and your  
body is too weak to compensate. Also, your nanotech is barely keeping up to your disease, so they  
don't have enough time to deal with the other toxins.*  
At that moment, the doorbell rang and Erin bounded into Dr. Zack's house, looking like the  
cat had just eaten the canary. She instantly got into the cupboard loaded with junk food, and soon  
appeared in front of the good doctor, arms loaded with bags of chips and holding a bottle of pop by  
her teeth. "Well, it seems you're going to rot your teeth out of your head by the time you're twenty-  
five. How are you doing Erin?"  
"PrtygdZck. Hreyu?"  
"Huh? Here, lemme hold that." Dr. Zack collected the bottle of pop from Erin so she could  
speak coherently, and she repeated her last statement.  
"Pretty good Doc. And no, my teeth won't rot that badly. After all, I haven't suffered from  
any zit swarms, even after invading your pantries. So, why'd you get me out of bed so early, other  
than to clear out the backlog of junk food?"  
"Well, I want you to help me with some extremely advanced programming, and if we can pull  
it off, your favourite teacher will actually look human again."  
"Really. Pass the Salt and Vinegar chips while I think about this." Erin emptied the jumbo-  
sized bag of chips in just under three minutes, allowing Dr. Zack to wonder how her metabolism  
could deal with such an influx of toxins.  
"Hmm, well if Sara returns to looking like she's alive, and gets her sense of humour back, I'm  
all for it. After all, class has been getting kinda dull ever since Sara filled Lucas' coat pockets with  
KY jelly."  
"She was the one who did that? I heard him howling like one of those damned monkeys in the  
jungle, and thought that he had run out of luck and blown his foot off with one of those chemical  
mixes he created in the lab."  
"No such luck. Sara's masterminded all the torture Lucas has gone through for the last six  
months. Well, let's take a look at the program you want to play with." Erin ran into the basement,  
heedless of the risk she was taking, and leaving a path of potato chips behind her.  
Dr. Zack sighed slightly and followed Erin, picking up the larger chips on the way into the  
basement.  
  
Sara's House, 10:53 AM   
  
Sara woke up, and instead of moving around, she stared at the ceiling where she had tried to  
paint a small mural of one of her childhood enjoyments. The paint hadn't worked very well, and it had  
smeared fairly badly, but by concentrating on the painting, she could see what her intention had been:  
a winding path between several trees with two figures on it.  
Eventually she decided to get up, and walked downstairs, scratching the back of her neck. She  
didn't even think about trying to change her nightclothes to her more casual clothes, but still checked  
that the purple belt she now wore constantly was nestled snugly around her waist. *That's a good  
piece of armour. I really should check the news, but I have a good hour to wait. Maybe I should look  
at the folder Reba gave me yesterday.*  
Sara groaned slightly as she walked over to the small table where she had tossed the folder  
last night, and slowly rotated her shoulders as she flipped to the first page of non-medical  
gobbledegook. *What the hell?!? This thing says that my little friends, despite being on the defensive,  
have mutated slightly, and are beginning to attack my vital organs. Also, there seems to be an  
extremely large amount of natural toxins floating about in my bloodstream, but that doesn't make any  
sense.  
*My nanomachines should automatically purge those toxins, but wait a sec... Dammit! I  
forgot! The primary program is to repair the damage done to me by the disease, so the nanomachines  
are focussing on that instead of the toxic soup that my brain's currently living on. No wonder my  
mind's feeling fuzzy.* Sara swore quietly, then walked over to her laptop. Turning on the small  
computer, she logged onto the net and activated a small program that instantly opened up a webpage  
that was virtually unchanged from almost six years ago.  
Sara selected the login system, and typed in 'SelinaSpecOps001@GenCore.com' And tapped  
in the password that she still remembered. 'Alpha1/Omega0' As the system connected to the secretive  
part of the company's site, Sara knew she was literally sending out an electronic beacon the size of  
the CN tower. She let the site upload totally, then dug into a database file system labelled 'Specialty  
Equipment, Level 7 clearance required.'  
Sara managed to cut through the security clearance, and found several files that instantly sent  
alarms jangling inside her head. *Lemme see, Gauss Weapon Mass Production? Okay, that's insanely  
scary. I'm gonna grab all the files about that subject. What else is there? Well, Tony'd find this  
interesting... Hello, what's this? Reactive Armour research notes, schematics, and miscellaneous  
information? This will help both of us. That's another bit to collect.*  
Sara downloaded all the files that she had mentally flagged, and stashed them in a folder which  
she then sealed with a basic encryption program. Sara went back to the online files, and dug around  
for a little while longer. She soon found something which was downloaded without question for later  
perusal, but the site suddenly died on her. "What the fuck? This is screwy. I bet someone pressed a  
panic button."  
Sara opened her E-mail system, and thanked the foresight of gathering Tony's 'net address  
from him a few weeks ago. Sara sent him the information on the Gauss Weapons, the armour, and  
the file she had found on the original nanotech that was swarming through her bloodstream. After the  
files had been sent, Sara turned off her laptop, went upstairs, and got dressed so she could go outside  
and get some air.  
By the time she had gotten dressed for the day, it was almost noon, so she instantly walked  
into the park, where in just under ten minutes, she had acquired a glass of iced tea and was quietly  
sipping at the frosted drink as she watched several children playing with a frisbee nearby. Occasionally  
distracted by the joyful cries and playful antics of the kids, Sara let her thoughts roam freely for the  
first time in almost a year, and she remembered almost everything good that had happened to her  
since she had moved to Meridiana.  
However, Sara was interrupted by a rather familiar voice, followed by the clear tones of a  
teenager's laughter. Looking up, she saw Tony walking down one of the park's paths towards the  
bench where she was sitting. And right beside the good doctor was Sara's headache of the week: Erin  
Cheng. Waiting for the two to get closer, Sara silently raised an eyebrow as a third person joined the  
small group. Sara's other eyebrow joined the first in an attempt to hide in her hairline when she  
recognised the third person as CyberSix.  
*Okay then. It seems that either my friends are going to pull a prank on me, or they have even  
more bad news.* Sara finished off her drink, then stood up and dusted off her jeans. She then walked  
over to the group, and, feeling slightly cheerful, she quietly placed her hands on Erin's shoulders.  
"Boo. Before you gut me Erin, notice the fact that we're surrounded by onlookers, and the  
prison won't cater to your needs." Erin nearly jumped out of her skin at Sara's grinning  
announcement, and spun to face her.  
"Hiii Sara. We were just talking about you."  
"I noticed. So, how are you three doing?"  
"Well Zack and I have been up since about Eight in the morning, doing... something."  
"Really Erin, I'm surprised at you. Why don't you give Tony his carving knife back?"  
"Hey! Erin, how many times have I told you to not take my knives? It's getting to the point  
where I have to go to the antique stores to replenish my silverware after you've visited."  
"Erin, you're a headache beyond belief."  
"Thanks for that endorsement. Here's your knife Zack." Erin passed over the 8" long knife,  
then walked off, waving at the group. "Well, I'm going for a burger and some fries. I'll see ya later."  
"Kids." All three of the adults said the same thing simultaneously, glanced at each other for  
a few seconds, and collapsed into gales of laughter. All three soon calmed down, mirth still sparkling  
in their eyes.  
"That's why I'm never going to have children." Sara gasped out as she leaned against a tree.  
"Really. I'm not telling what my plans are in the future."  
"Well, considering your plans with Lucas, they may be interesting."  
"HEY! I don't pry into your personal life, so why do you pry into mine?"  
"Cyb, you haven't pried into my personal life because I don't have one. Anyhow, I sent you  
an E-mail, Tony. You'll find it... umm... interesting."  
"Okay. Look, why don't we have some lunch? You're probably skin and bones underneath  
that coat you always wear, and I have only had a bag of chips since Eight-Thirty."  
"All right. C'mon, my treat." The three friends walked towards the Cafe where Erin had  
walked to, occasionally bouncing jokes off of each other.  
  
Jose's Mansion, 4:57 PM   
  
"Well, your arm is back in working order, but I don't recommend you going after someone  
who could do that to you." The techno in charge of the infirmary finished cutting away the plaster  
cast surrounding M-17's arm, and inspected the two scars where the bones had broken the skin.  
"Sorry, but I'm going to kill that bitch if it's the last thing I do."  
"Your funeral. If you need anything, I'll patch you together." M-17 shrugged, then walked  
out of the small room after putting her shirt back on. *That fucking bitch was lucky. She managed  
to knock me down, and I broke my arm on the way down. She just added insult to injury by pushing  
the bones through my skin when she jumped onto my arm.*  
The vindictive girl kicked one of the ornamental statuettes off of its pedestal, and while the  
small object was tumbling in midair, she sent it flying down the hallway with a second one. The result  
was a pained shout as the shaped stone bounced off the back of Jose's head, sending him sprawling  
onto the carpet.  
"OW!!! Who the bloody hell threw that at me?" M-17 ducked into a conveniently open room  
as Jose stormed past, looking like he was going to shred the next person to cross his path. M-17  
waited for a few minutes, listening as the far door slammed. She then looked around the room and  
just stared at the stacks of heavy weapons lining the walls.  
"This is amazing. And it looks like I found your hiding place Jess." M-17 walked over to the  
nearest weapon, and lifted the old and ugly rifle. *Wow! This thing looks like it can fire twenty  
rounds from one magazine, and the baby scope will give it better accuracy. Still I wonder what it is.*  
She guessed that the rifle weighed almost twenty pounds, and decided that she'd try it out in the firing  
range.  
"So, you like playing with something that I've been restoring since I came out of the tank?"  
"Hi Jess. This is an amazing piece of work. What is it?" Jess sighed as she walked over to a  
small desk, buried in pistol parts and bullet casings.  
"Cute. It's a BAR that was captured from a Canadian military unit near the end of the Second  
War."  
"BAR?"  
"Browning Automatic Rifle. That monster was almost as nasty as an MG42, and more  
portable to boot. It could use a 20-round magazine of .45 cal bullets, or fire .50 cal slugs from a belt.  
I never figured out how they created the ACT that the thing uses, but this is the only one we have that  
is in full working order. Wanna try it out?"  
"Damn right I do! How much ammo do you put through this thing?"  
"About a hundred rounds a week of both types. I've gotten so proficient with it, I can put a  
4-round burst in the ten-circle on a target at a hundred yards."  
"Heh. When we go hunting for that bitch, why don't we take this baby along for support? It'll  
be more accurate than those dumbassed lumps with rocket launchers."  
"Fine. You can play with it, and I get to play sharpshooter. Let's see how many civvies we  
can mow down in an hour."  
"I'm all for it. Tomorrow. Today, I just want to get a feel for this." The two women , M-17  
with the BAR and Jess with a heavily customized sniper rifle that had once been a PSG-1, went over  
to the firing range in the basement, joking and occasionally taking potshots at the now-scared Fixed  
Ideas.  
  
Sara's House, 6:42 PM   
  
Sara looked through the file on her computer, and rubbed her eyes with her right hand.  
Sighing slightly, she scrolled up to the top of the document and reread it for the sixth time in a row.  
*Damn. Gauss pistols and rifles have some interesting properties, and I definitely don't want to be  
on the receiving end of one. Now, the fact that they produce EM fields strong enough to interfere  
with my internals is bad enough, but getting hit by a spike moving at Mach 12 would definitely put  
a crimp in my lifestyle.*  
Sara groaned slightly, then closed that file. "Remind me to never, ever try to escape from  
these assholes again."  
"How's that Sara? I thought you like being free."  
"Erin, how many times do I have to tell you to knock before entering? Come here and take  
a look at this." Erin walked over to Sara, and she noticed that her friend was dressed in her fighting  
clothes. Sara reopened the file on the gauss weapons schematics, and scrolled down to the first  
diagram.  
"Wow. That is complex and nasty. What's the top speed for the slugs?"  
"Mach 12. I'm not sure, but that could punch through about three feet of battleship plate  
without slowing down too much. Either that or the material will flash-heat into a concentrated plasma  
bolt which would be much worse."  
"Plasma bolts? Never heard of those."  
"They are extremely theoretical. I talked to an old classmate of mine who was working on the  
idea of magnetic levitation for trains, and a Gauss weapon uses the same basic principle as one of  
those trains. A plasma bolt occurs when something like an iron spike accelerates past normal  
thresholds, allowing air friction to vaporize the metal. Whatever's left when it hits something would  
be heated to about thirty thousand degrees at the impact point.  
"The heat would cause the natural moisture in the substance to expand, and literally blast a  
hole the size of my chest through whatever was hit."  
"Gross. So, if someone like Six got hit, she'd be dead or seriously wounded in one shot?"  
"Dunno. Hopefully, I'd never find out as well. So, what brings you to my not-so humble  
abode?"  
"Other than being shown something that'd give most sane people nightmares, nothing much.  
I wanted to see whether or not you're still in one piece. You did watch that piece over the news about  
the murders at the airport?"  
"Yeah. I know that style of attack. The attacker used Advanced Combat Armour. And that  
stuff is, as far as I'm concerned, the stuff you want for self-defence or offense."  
"Where's yours then?"  
"Around my waist, as always. Why don't you go hunting for a while? I'll be stuck on this for  
a few more hours before I can play ambusher."  
"Dammit. Well, do you have any pop in the fridge?"  
"Yeah. I still have that bottle of whiskey that I used to disinfect my wounds in there as well."  
"I won't even think about touching that one. I'll see you around." Erin walked into the  
kitchen, liberated the full bottle of pop from its confines, and walked out onto the back porch before  
jumping west into the park.  
  
Shipping Warehouse #27 7:27 PM   
  
"Hey! Everyone UP! NOW!!!" The commander of the Spec-ops team yelled loudly enough  
to rattle some of the looser windows, and had instant results. The entire team appeared in front of  
him in less than thirty seconds, with the exception of the addition.  
"Now, listen up girls! Playtime is officially over. We are going to split up into two groups.  
Wilson, you're going to take nine grunts with you and try to apprehend Dr. Zacharias. He lives on  
the east side of the park, and his place is nicknamed the Southern Fort Knox. We have no, repeat, NO  
information on the defences he has, and apparently he has close contact with the primary."  
"Yes sir. I'll take the backups because you have the worst part ahead of you sir."  
"Damn right I do. Now, the rest of us will have to go through reconnaissance on the subject's  
known haunts: The local high school, a Cafe near there, and the large park near Dr. Zacharias' house.  
Good luck. We move out at midnight. Until then, split up into teams of two. Keep your eyes open,  
and clean your weapons. Now, we want our targets alive, so dial down the speed on the Gauss pistols  
to Mach 8. That will allow us to cripple a person without amputating their limbs."  
A chorus of 'Yes Sir' was fired back at the commander, and the troops scattered to where  
they had put their equipment, leaving the commander, his XO, and the boss' lackey.  
"Well, they won't die quickly."  
"That's for sure, sir. I hope that they actually learned something about their newer  
equipment."  
"Well, I always emphasise the physical over the technological. After all, if your gun fails, you  
will need to use your bare hands against your opponent."  
"True. Let's get ready."  
"Yeah. By the way, you're with me. The boss wants to make sure you come home with all  
your extremities intact." 


	16. First Assault

Dr. Zack's House   
12:32 AM Monday   
  
Dr. Zack was awake and in the basement, talking to his two most frequent visitors. CyberSix  
was distracted, despite the immense enjoyment of Dr. Zack's announcement that she'd never have  
to hunt again. Dr. Zack noticed that Six was not totally paying attention, and he surmised that she  
was concerned about the news that Sara's worst nightmares had come to town, but was too  
concerned about the antics of Stryk as the teen cartwheeled around the large room in a display of  
ecstatic energy that amazed him.  
"Stryk, please be careful! I don't want to replace," -CRASH!- "That experiment."  
Stryk stood up, dusting off her leather coat as she smiled before hugging Six. "Well, you're  
in less of a pit now. Actually, you could go and smack Jose around for a few weeks because you're  
no longer dependent on his existence, much less the occasional lightning storm."  
"Cute Stryk. Why are you so happy now? You don't have to swallow the equivalent of seven  
hand grenades every ten days."  
"No, I have to play sanitarium patient daily. I'm surprised I haven't had an electrical lobotomy  
due to the charges I subject myself to. Anyhow, I'm happy because now Tony can focus on trying  
to make me, well, normal."  
Dr. Zack chuckled, but his reply was cut off by a blinking red light on a wall panel. "Uh oh.  
We have some uninvited company outside, and from what Sara told us over the last few days, I can  
guess who's here for dinner."  
Stryk cracked her knuckles, then unsheathed her eight-inch long claws for a second. "Well,  
this may be interesting. I've always wanted to kick a spec-ops trooper's butt around the city."  
Dr. Zack frowned as he checked his .22 pistol, then pulled on his wave suit's hood and gloves   
before removing his sweater. "Just so long as you keep them from Sara's house, you can do what you  
want. For now, let's see what will happen when they find my little surprises that are floating about."  
  
Outside Dr. Zack's House   
  
The attenuated squad of spec-ops troops raced towards the ten-foot stone wall surrounding  
the objective's townhouse, led by Wilson and his personal second, a Corporal Stone. They reached  
the wall without incident, and Wilson used hand gestures to order the team to split up and scout the  
area before they attacked. The two least experienced men he ordered to keep together and provide  
cover for the more experienced troops.  
Wilson then vaulted over the wall, and landed quietly on a patch of grass near some holly  
bushes. Just as he was straightening up, he heard something moving to his left. Turning quickly,  
Wilson noticed a small bottle moving away from him. He decided to take a closer look, and tried to  
get close enough to the bottle to check the label. He got to the bottle long enough to notice that it  
was high-quality Smirnoff vodka, and decided that it was worth salvaging.  
At that point, he remembered what his mission was and the obvious question popped into his  
head. *What the bloody hell is a bottle of vodka doing here? Why would someone do this, unless...  
it's a trap. SHIT! We're probably compromised.* Nearby, a loud thud heralded the landing of one  
of the grunts nearby, and Wilson crept over to find out what had happened. When he got to the  
crouching trooper, Wilson tapped the man on the shoulder and whispered for a report.  
The trooper nodded and whispered harshly "I landed on the balcony about ten feet up, and  
when I took a step, my feet slipped out from underneath me like they were greased. I don't know why  
it happened either."  
"It's okay. This place is really weird. I found a bottle of vodka sitting in the middle of the  
lawn, totally innocent-looking, but I wouldn't touch it if I were paid to."  
"Why, sir?"  
"It's a trap. This place is rigged with so many tricks it'd take a year to begin to decipher it,  
and it's sewn up tighter than a watermelon in a frog's butt. Get onto that wall and see if there's  
anything on the roof."  
"Okay, sir." The trooper jumped onto the wall, and started to scan the roof of the townhouse  
when all hell broke loose. The first thing he noticed was that his hair felt like it was standing on end  
for a second, then the anti-thief system kicked in and blasted almost fifty Megavolts through him.  
Every person froze as the trooper screamed in agony, only stopping when the massive charge cut out.  
The now-seriously wounded trooper fell into the middle of the lawn and twitched spasmodically as  
his nerves fired randomly. Then, to add insult to injury, three of the four roof-mounted machine guns  
cut loose on his prone form.  
Most of the AP ammo didn't punch through the armour the trooper was wearing, but the  
repeated impacts sent painful shocks through his body. Several slugs managed to worm their way  
through the tough material as well, smashing the hapless man's kneecaps into the human equivalent  
of jell-o. The third stage of the townhouses' defences kicked in, and the lawn sprinklers disgorged  
their 'presents' for all to dodge.  
Each sprinkler launched several two-metre long spikes in random directions, and several of  
the heavy metal objects slammed into the wounded trooper. Due to the fact that each spike was  
moving at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour, they simply ignored his armour and skewered his  
vital organs like a shish-kebab. The trooper's scream was cut off when a spike slammed into his  
throat from the side, severing his windpipe.  
The remaining nine men were busy dodging the spikes shot at them by the other sprinklers,  
so they didn't have time to react to their comrade's death. Also, the area had created an average  
decibel level of the inside of a jet engine due to the barking snarls of the machine guns mixed with the  
loud and aggravating clanging noises caused by the spikes rebounding from the outside wall. Wilson  
however, had pulled his gauss pistol from its holster and fired four shots.  
Each slug, having been accelerated to Mach 8 instead of Mach 12, totally destroyed a  
sprinkler and carved impressively long divots along the ground. Having cleared himself a (relatively)  
peaceful area to issue orders from, Wilson shouted for two of his men to get to the roof and take out  
the machine guns that were adding to the havoc on the ground.  
The two men he had selected began to get to the roof very quickly. One of the troopers  
jumped to the roof, and blasted one of the heavy machine guns into scrap metal before he noticed that  
he couldn't move. In response to the destruction of one of their own, the three remaining guns  
swivelled inwards and pointed at the trooper before cutting loose with long rippling bursts that  
tracked their ways upwards until at least nine slugs hit their marks in his head.  
The trooper's body, pushed backwards by the impacts, fell the twenty-odd feet to the lawn  
headfirst, and when he landed, the ominous crunch that emanated from his head told everyone in  
earshot that his fighting days were over. The second trooper that had been ordered to the roof was  
more cautious than his counterpart, and he used his armour's mutable qualities to create climbing  
spikes along his hands. He simply climbed up the wall of the house, under the arcs of fire from the  
machine guns, and safely away from the spikes still being launched at the other troopers.  
Just as he hit the second floor however, he had to pull himself up over a small ledge to  
continue on his climb. He managed to get his arms over the ledge and was about to continue when  
a wet SSSHHUNK preceded immense pains in his arms. Looking at his forearms, the trooper could  
only stare blankly at the spikes that had gone through his forearms, shattering the bones and rendering  
him useful only as a shield. The trooper dropped like a rock, pulling two of the spikes with him, and  
as gravity removed the still-connected spikes from their solaces in his arms, he had to scream in pain  
when he realized that they were also barbed.  
Wilson noticed that only six men were left, not including him. One of the rookies had been  
tripped up by a spike, and another one had given him a third eye, removing most of the poor person's  
intelligence at the same time. By his count, three men were dead, one was crippled, and should be  
shot, and the rest were in varying condition, from unharmed to badly pummelled. At that point, the  
owner of the house finally made an entrance, wearing a black suit, gloves, and a ski mask.  
Wilson paused for a second, then raised his gauss pistol and took a snap shot before dodging  
to the side. He was lucky. The gauss slug hit the Doctor cleanly in the chest, and Wilson thought he  
heard a wet snapping sound come from that direction as the Doctor fell to the ground. Wilson got  
up and walked towards where the Doc had fallen, but was amazed when the person sat up, pointed  
what looked like a .22 pistol at him, and fired five times.  
The first three bullets hit in a triangle around Wilson's right eye. The next two were better  
aimed, and passed cleanly through the armour's weakest points to lodge neatly in each eye. The twin  
bullets shredded Wilson's eyes, blinding him as blood spurted out of his face, and one got far enough  
to lacerate an artery in his brain. That bullet killed Wilson as the damaged artery ruptured, causing  
a massive cerebral haemorrhage which shredded his brain like a piece of tissue paper on top of a fire  
hydrant.  
Wilson's body shuddered for a second or two, trying to understand why it had lost input from  
its brain, until it got the message; 'Hey! You're dead!' At that point, Wilson's body swayed slightly  
for a few more seconds before crashing to the ground, where the dirt partook greedily of his blood,  
staining the ground with his life. The remaining squad members had their hands full with two dark  
forms that had jumped out of a second story window, and they were thinking of escaping with their  
lives intact.  
The dark forms were moving at speeds that the remaining troops couldn't comprehend, and  
when one of them sagged to the ground with four metal spikes sticking out of his chest, the other five  
decided to cut their losses and run. Two had jumped over the wall when a missile streaked out of  
nowhere and slammed into the other three troops. However, they were still alive, but heavily shaken  
from the concussive blast that had hammered them. Instead of allowing the men to retreat however,  
the missile platform, revealed to be a black riding lawnmower, moved closer and rippled off a salvo  
of the remaining five AT-4 Sagger-2 Anti-Personnel missiles at the three men.  
Adding to the explosions was the continuing hail of fire from the two machine guns with a  
clear arc of fire, which abruptly cut off when the three defenders of the house moved into the line of  
fire. The smoke and dust kicked up by the concentrated blasts settled down, revealing that the armour  
the three men had been wearing was steaming from hot places in the plating, and gaping rents had  
been torn in the tough material. Outside, where the two men had left, the sound of gunfire was heard,  
and in less than a minute, all the defences shut down.  
The two black-clothed people jumped over the wall in pursuit of the surviving troops, but  
were stopped short by a shrill whistle. "Hey! Looks like we've had some fun."  
"Sara? What the hell are you doing out here at this time of night?"  
"Freezing my ass off, Six. That little assault woke me up, and I sorta had to collect my bigger  
gun." Sara walked into the light cast by a street-lamp, revealing that she was carrying her cut-down  
Anti-Tank rifle, which was still spitting out a stream of smoke. Also, Sara was only wearing a purple  
leotard, walking towards the group barefoot.  
"I missed one, but the second person got a slug through his chest. It looks kinda messy  
though."  
"I can imagine. So, wanna see our handiwork?"  
"Not really, but if my hunch is right, it's Gen-Core at its worst again."  
"Gen-Core?"  
"Yeah Stryk. You saw the Gauss Schematics yesterday, and those grunts probably have some  
of those beasts. All of it is by Gen-Core." Sara walked into Dr. Zack's front yard through the gate,  
and grimaced at the mist-like clouds of cordite and dust drifting through the yard. "Uchhh. Hey Tony,  
looks like we have a major problem."  
"Damn right we do Sara. So, can you identify any of these people?"  
"Maybe. Hey, this looks like something you'd be interested in." Sara bent over and picked  
up a fallen gun, but it was of such a strange configuration that she couldn't identify it. However, when  
she pointed it upwards and fired a single shot, she instantly felt utterly horrible. Sara dropped the  
pistol, and looked at her friends. "Well, I feel miserable. I don't like killing people, even when my life  
or my friend's lives are at stake. Here, hang onto this."  
Sara got Stryk to hold onto her large gun, and walked over to where Wilson's cooling body  
lay. She kicked over the stiffening corpse, and prodded at his chest and upper arms. Soon, she smiled  
and pushed inwards, making the armour revert to its dormant form, covering only the chest and upper  
legs of the body. Sara asked for and got a flashlight from Dr. Zack, and shone the light over the body.  
She then cut loose with a bark of laughter.  
"Well, if you told the FBI about this, they'd pay you almost fifty thousand dollars."  
"Fifty thousand? Why?"  
"He was a child molester. He disappeared just hours before a battalion of troops landed on  
his house to squash him. After that, the US. has been hunting for him in order to put some bullets in  
his head."  
Sara kicked the corpse in the ribs, allowing herself to vent some tension into what could be  
considered an inanimate object. Dr. Zack removed the gloves and the mask he was wearing, and  
sighed loudly as he surveyed the damage done to his yard. Even the prominent signs stating to keep  
off the grass had been knocked over, most by the mad dash called a 'tactical retreat' by the military.  
Six and Stryk looked at each other for a second, then shrugged simultaneously.  
"Hey Tony. Are you all right? You look like someone hit you in the chest with a  
sledgehammer."  
"No, I'm not all right. However, I'm in better condition than if I hadn't been wearing my suit.  
I have to surmise that I got nailed by a gauss slug."  
Sara raised an eyebrow as she looked at Dr. Zack for a long second, then looked at the pile  
of three men who had been pummelled to death by the missile volley. She walked over to the heap,  
and studied the damage done to the armour. "Odd. From what I've seen of the armour schematics,  
these rents should've repaired themselves less than two seconds after being damaged."  
"Really. Well, maybe I should look over the information that you sent me again. Six, Stryk,  
can you help me by calling the police and retrieving the one Sara shot?"  
"I'll call the cops! Have fun collecting the corpse, Six."  
"Thanks Stryk. You sure you don't want to help?" Stryk grinned, shook her head, and walked  
into Dr. Zack's house as Sara and Dr. Zack collected the Gauss pistols in order to figure out how  
they worked in a practical sense. Soon, Stryk walked out of the house, picked up three pistols that  
Sara had missed, and gave Sara back her own gun.  
"Well, the police will be here in a few minutes. You'd better scoot unless you want to be  
picked up as an accessory to murder."  
"Very funny Stryk. I'll see you two, make that three" Sara included Six as the Cyber hopped  
over the wall, burdened by another dead body, this one having a hole in its chest the diameter of  
Sara's fist. "Later. Have a good night, and I'll see you at school Tony."  
"Good night Sara. Please try to remain in one piece."  
"I plan to. You'll see me about for a while longer." Sara walked out of Dr. Zack's yard and  
returned to her house, picking up the discarded shell casing on the way. When the police arrived, Six  
and Stryk had already left, stopping at Sara's house for a few minutes to try and get some more  
information. However, all they got was a noncommital grunt and a yawn before they left.  
  
Shipping Warehouse #27, 1:25 AM   
  
"What the hell happened there?"  
"I'm telling you sir, the entire team was wiped out by the place's defences, and that accursed  
Doctor as well."  
"Right. And I'm the fucking Queen of Spain!!! Tell the goddamned truth!"  
"I am! Sir." The trooper was sweating profusely as his commander sat in a chair in front of  
him. However, most of the trooper's nervousness came from the fact that the addition's Gauss pistol  
was seemingly glued to his right ear.  
"Look, I managed to survive through a healthy dose of luck, and nobody else survived.  
Zacharias' place has several machine guns, seemingly remote-controlled, a spike field in his lawn, and  
a psychotic lawnmower armed with at least six missiles. Jameson and I managed to get out of the  
killing zone, and decided to retreat after Wilson was killed by someone wearing black clothing.  
"I don't know what that stuff was made of, but it stood up to a Gauss slug at almost point-  
blank range. When Jameson and I retreated, we jumped north by about three houses, and came under  
fire from the primary subject. Jameson was hit, and when I tried to save him, I saw that most of his  
chest had been pulverized by what appeared to be a metal spike over an inch wide."  
"What? Wait a second. You just said that Jameson was killed by the subject, right? How did  
she manage to get her hands on something like that?" The addition frowned as he mumbled something  
to himself, then shuddered. "Shit. She has a family heirloom that can easily punch through our  
armour."  
"How do you know it's a family heirloom? As far as I know, she has no family."  
"I told you before, that's classified." The commander grunted, then walked out of the  
warehouse for some fresh air, leaving the two men alone in the cavernous building. As the  
commander closed the door, he heard the recitation of a short military tribunal, then a single shot.  
Soon, the addition walked out of the warehouse, wiping blood off of the front of his armour. "Well,  
he was tried and found guilty for gross incompetence and cowardice in the face of the enemy."  
"You really shouldn't do that. Now I'll have to keep your butt safe from two sides."  
"Right. I doubt that. Shouldn't everyone be set up for the recon yet?"  
"They left about twenty minutes ago. I'm not surprised you didn't see them, considering how  
involved you were. Anyhow, they'll keep surveillance on her for the day, then we'll consolidate and  
attack. I consider the Anthony Zacharias mission to be a failure, but only because of unsurmountable  
defences instead of incompetence. We rendevous in the park at midnight, so get some rest."  
"Fine. Just remember this: When she's either given up or defeated, I'll have to talk to her for  
a few minutes. Keep her under your sights, but try to keep out of earshot as well."  
"Your funeral. I'm going to get some rest." The commander walked back into the warehouse,  
looked at the headless corpse lying in the middle of the floor, and looked over at the wall where most  
of the person's fried brains and pieces of skull had landed. The commander grunted as he  
contemplated the abstract pattern, then walked over to the radio system that had been set up several  
hours before the first attack. He turned on the system, and dialled in a code known to only three  
members on the team.  
"Ivonava, you in position?"  
"Yes sir. The subject is under surveillance. Can I take a shot at her?"  
"No. Your mission is reconnaissance. I want you to keep her in your sights as long as possible  
however, because it's highly likely that she knows we're here and gunning for her."  
"Dammit. Well, murphy's law has just reared its ugly head, hasn't it."  
"Yep. Here's another crimp: we have orders to capture her alive and in mostly one piece."  
"So I'll have to put away my sniper rifle and use that electro-grapple? Shit. You know that  
the thing only has a range of six feet. By the time I'm that close, she'll have filled me with enough  
metal to start a scrap drive."  
"Well, we'll have to do our best. Remind me to give all the surviving members a pay raise of  
about thirty percent when we get back home. Be careful. After all, you're our only medic."  
"All right, sir. Check in at about Eight in the morning. Over and out." The radio went dead,  
and the commander smiled as he visualized his only female member keeping a sharp watch on the  
subject's house.  
  
Jose's Mansion, 6:30 AM   
  
"Hey Jess, d'you wanna know what really torques me off?"  
"What 17? If you haven't noticed, when I'm adjusting the sights on a gun, I don't need to be  
bothered." Jess put a small screwdriver into a pocket on the pseudo-military fatigues she was  
wearing, then checked the scope on the rifle she was sighting in. Jacking a round into the chamber,  
she fired at the circular target two hundred yards away and was rewarded with a hole right where she  
wanted. "Jose. That stunted little ho-bitch probably has cameras hidden in every room of this place  
occupied by females, and he'd try and sneak into the ladies room as well."  
"So, that's part of the reason why you tossed him into the freezer a few days ago?"  
"Yep. That and I wanted out of here so I can kill the other thorn in my ass."  
"What's really weird is that you haven't been your usual, unpredictable psychotic self for the  
last few weeks."  
"Really? Maybe you're a moderating influence on me?" M-17 and Jess chuckled and cleaned  
the guns they had been firing at the human-shaped targets near the sighting range. Both targets had  
been pummelled by twenty bullets apiece, and both had tight groups of holes over where a person's  
heart would be, with a few scattered in the targets at head level.  
"Probably. Can you pass the cleaning solvent? I'm going to be using this thing soon, and want  
to make sure it's not that badly fouled."  
"Yeah, here." 17 tossed the small bottle over to Jess, then finished wiping down the blued  
steel of the BAR's barrel. "This gun is amazing. Now I know why the allied infantry was so nasty."  
"That's not the half of it. When you have the time, take a look through the multimedia library  
for some video clips of those things in action. The people who used these were reputed to be totally  
fearless, and some stood up in the line of fire for fun."  
"There must've been a lot of Darwin Awards handed out during that timeframe."  
"Yep. C'mon, we want to find a nice hunting spot before the city wakes up too much, and it'll  
take us half an hour to drive in." Jess grinned and put the rifle in a padded carrying case, which she  
closed after putting two boxes of heavy slugs into cutouts in the foam. M-17 did the same with the  
BAR, adding a belt of about five hundred rounds of depleted-uranium slugs for added punch. Just as  
the two were finishing their preparations, the one little hassle that both hated popped into the room.  
"Hello you two. Your little excursion's been delayed until tonight."  
"What the hell are you drivelling about Jose? We've been planning this bit since I got my arm  
in the cast, and now that the piece of plaster is off, we're gonna have some fun."  
"I told you, change of plans. We need someone to get a package from where the observatory  
was, and you two are the best candidates."  
"In your ear runt."  
"Kinky. Get going, and I'll give you some additional ammunition as well as the stuff you  
have." Jose pulled a key from a chain around his neck and waved it at the two women. Both  
recognised it as the armoury key, but Jess clutched her stomach and started laughing. Jose frowned  
as M-17 chuckled and Jess pulled an identical key from one of her pockets.  
"Sucker. I had a copy of that key made less than a year ago. Anyhow, we're off after we  
change into something that doesn't stand out like a bruised thumb." Jess and 17 grabbed their  
weapons cases, walked out of the room together, and went into their separate rooms to change into  
semi-casual clothes. Soon, they reappeared, Jess wearing cargo pants and a black sweater, which hid  
at least two pistols and several loaded magazines for all her guns.  
M-17 was wearing black leather pants, tanktop and trenchcoat, all of which were hiding  
several knives and at least one gun. They still had their gun cases, but Jess raided the armoury for  
several grenades, silencers for her pistols, and at least ten blocks of C-4 plastique. After they had  
stashed all the equipment in the jeep they were using, Jess hopped into the driver's seat, 17 got into  
the passenger side, flipping off Jose, and they peeled out of the car park, deliberately aiming to try  
and squash Jose's foot with the car's tires.  
They succeeded, and were chased from the park by the runt's yowls of pain. The two grinned,  
Jess turned on the radio, and they drove towards the awakening city, trading jokes about Jose's  
obvious problems.  
  
Sara's House, 8:00 AM   
  
Sara groaned as she realized that she had to be at the school in just under twenty minutes, and  
rubbed her bloodshot eyes. Sighing, she gathered up the six letters she had written in her rather neat  
handwriting, and addressed them to CyberSix, Tony, Lucas, and Erin. The last two she left  
unaddressed, but one she simply wrote 'Obituary' on it, and the other was a legal will.  
Sara gathered together the addressed letters, and, after getting dressed in jeans and a tube top,  
despite the cool weather, Sara put all four into her coat pocket, and decided to walk to school,  
despite the obvious dangers that would place her in. As a precaution, she strapped her knife to the  
small of her back, keeping it hidden underneath her shirt.  
Sara actually decided to stop off at Dr. Zack's place first and give him the letter that she had  
written for him, but had to wait for several minutes for him to appear. When he did however, Sara  
neatly ambushed him by tapping him on the shoulder. "Hello Tony. Didja sleep at all last night, or  
were you busy trying to decipher one of those Gauss pistols?"  
"Actually, I've had the police crawling over my front yard since One in the morning. Also,  
just to add insult to injury, my security system had to be shut down to keep the cops from being  
perforated."  
"Well, that's better than being slapped with murder charges. After all, it was justifiable self-  
defence. In my case however, I'm going to be nailed to a wall by exposing one of my aces to those  
buggers."  
"Hey, stop with the doom-and-gloom mood Sara. So, why are you walking to school instead  
of using that coronary inducement system you call a motorbike?"  
"Exercise mainly, but I also wanted to give you this." Sara handed over the letter addressed  
to Dr. Zack, and let him look at the small letters underneath his name.  
"To open upon the event of your death or disappearance? Why in the name of god are you  
giving me this?"  
"Precaution. I know that I'm going to get hurt when the spec-ops team comes for me, and  
I don't know how badly. As a result, my close friends are getting a letter each. If I'm still alive and  
mostly in one piece at the end of the year, burn it."  
"Okay. You win. Who else is getting the letters?"  
"Lucas, Erin, and Cyb. Also, I'm not coming into school tomorrow, so most of my students  
get extra homework today."  
"They'll enjoy that. If you show up on Thursday, will you be able to continue your faculty  
lessons in aikido? I sat in on one a few weeks ago and found it intensely interesting."  
"I noticed. Was that the one where Lucas was used as the practice dummy, or when Mr.  
Tilman fell over and just couldn't get back up?"  
"The Tilman incident. I can't believe that the pompous, overweight blowhard tried to pull off  
a block and sweep move, especially because he can't see his own feet." Sara laughed at the  
description of the principal, and nodded in agreement.  
"Yeah, that was pretty pathetic. It took four of us to get him back onto his feet, and he  
instantly tried to tear a strip out of the rest of us. Well, looks like we get to deal with our classes soon  
enough."  
"True. See you in the afternoon. By the way, if you want Cyb to talk to you I'll leave her a  
message."  
"Thanks Tony. Well, it's time to face the music and try to survive another day in the school.  
Hope Lori doesn't try to lace your coffee with Ex-Lax."  
"She only tried that once, and I caught it because I drink tea instead."  
"True. I'll probably see you after school."  
"See you later Sara." Tony walked into the front doors of the school, the letter sticking out  
of his coat pocket. Sara followed soon after, pausing for a few seconds just outside of the door as  
she felt a prickling sensation all the way down her back. She shrugged it off for the moment, however,  
and continued into her regular day.  
Soon, before her first class, she exposed her sense of humour by placing a dead rat on Lori's  
seat. When Lori sat down for the class, she instantly became the butt of all the jokes for the morning.  
Lori didn't take well to the prank, but she didn't have much of a choice because it revealed that Sara  
was seemingly healthier than she had been the previous week. After Sara revealed the rat to be made  
of rubber, Lori took the joke for what it was and put the potato she was holding aside.  
Erin watched the entire proceedings from her usual perch at the back of the classroom, and  
couldn't help but smile as Sara went through every student presentation without even yawning.  
However, she was surprised when, on the break between the double period, Sara asked to talk to her  
for a few minutes. Erin agreed, and they let the rest of the class clear out before Sara spoke up.  
"Well, I'm not one for beating around the bush. Here." Sara handed over Erin's letter, then  
watched as Erin studied the note.  
"Why the hell are you giving me this? I think you're closer to Cyb or Lucas than me."  
"Not true. Lucas knows next to nothing about me, but he is getting one as well. Tony's  
already gotten his, and Cyb will get hers tonight."  
"Okay then. But still, why? You're not gonna croak anytime soon, and If anyone tries to mess  
you up, you'd rip their balls off."  
"Not exactly, but true. Actually, I'm more concerned about my friends than about myself. Go  
out and have fun sometime later. Hell, I'd pay for the pizza, but I'm gonna be busy all night."  
Erin frowned at the quiet dismissal in Sara's voice, and tucked the letter into her backpack.  
Then, she went out to her five-minute break to get a pop, despite the rules against food and drinks  
in the science wing.  
  
Outside of the School, 12:10 PM   
  
The observer was actually lying down on a flat rooftop about two hundred yards from the  
school grounds when he saw the objective. *Yep, about five-eight, seems to be a bit lighter than  
stated in the dossier. Long reddish-black hair... that matches. Hello, what's this?* He scaled the zoom  
on his binoculars to get a closer look at the person's face, and saw some red lines on her right cheek.  
*Odd. That's not hair, and I don't think she has scars on her face, but the info is out-of-date. Looks  
like her hobby backfired on her. Yeah, those scars on her arms match up. We have contact!*  
The observer turned on his radio and contacted his commander, back in the warehouse. "Sir,  
we have confirmed contact with the subject. Apparently, she's a teacher of some sort at the local high  
school, and has forged friendships with several students, along with a least two teachers there. You  
want me to collect her?"  
"No. We do not want to reveal ourselves again. Keep an eye on her, and tally a list of people  
who seem to be relatively close to her as well as their physical descriptions. Over and Out." Growling  
slightly, the observer turned off his radio and refocused on the subject with his high-power binoculars,  
just in time to see a slim, black-haired man walk up to the subject and strike up a conversation.  
*Damn I wish I had brought a parabolic microphone. I can barely read what the subject's saying.*  
The observer was madly writing down what he was translating from his lip-reading, and when  
he looked at the transcription, only about half the words were intelligible. *Well, she was saying  
something about a letter, but who's this 'Cyb' she referred to a few times? Also, why the hell would  
she stay at home tomorrow? Maybe she's found us out, and is preparing for a fight. I'd love to try  
and investigate, but my mission is to keep this dump under observation until tonight.*  
The observer, venting his frustration at his inability to put a bullet through the subject's head,  
stood up, walked over to the other side of the apartment he had appropriated, and viciously kicked  
the two corpses there repeatedly in the chests. He smiled as he listened to the crushed ribs sliding  
loosely around in the bodies, making soft squishing noises as more blood dribbled out of the shattered  
heads, quickly being absorbed by the shag carpet.  
The observer quickly returned to his post, and swore silently as he realized that the subject  
had disappeared and the yard was empty. He updated the commander on the situation, and got a  
recall order as a response.  
  
Sara's House, 7:45 PM   
  
Sara had just opened her safe and was retrieving her cut-down AT gun for a long-overdue  
cleaning when she heard the window slide open. "Hello Six. Why didn't you use the back door?"  
"Boredom mainly. That and I really want to find out why you're giving out these letters."  
"Precautions. I told Tony the same thing. Now, you want yours or not?"  
"Fine. I'll take it, but only to make you happy."  
"You don't know the half of it. Now, where did I put it?" Sara put the gun down and flipped  
through the pile of papers she had put on the night-table next to the now-dim vial of sustenance that  
had been collecting dust for the last six months. Soon, she found the requisite letter, and gave it to  
her friend. "Here Y'go. I hope you have a good night. I'll be busy for the rest of the night, as well  
as tomorrow. On Wednesday, don't be surprised if there are a lot of explosions rolling about the  
city."  
"Thanks for the warning. Be careful."  
"Damn right I will. Now scoot, I'm not gonna spend much on pleasantries when cleaning a  
gun, and especially when I'm also gonna be cleaning some pointy objects afterwards."  
"Bye Sara. Maybe I'll see you later tonight."  
"I'd like that. If you come back in a few hours, I'll have the worst of the work behind me."  
Six left by the window, leaving only the faint flutter of her cape behind her. Sara grinned and  
continued cleaning her gun, making sure that there were no chemical deposits that could throw off  
her aim. After she finished with the long and involved cleaning, Sara collected about twenty of her  
AP rounds for the gun and carefully fixed some horrible noisemaking arrangements to each slug.  
*Well, I just took a page from the history books. A couple of these moaning minnies should  
keep their heads down, and get their trenches much deeper by the morning.* Sara chuckled as she   
finished putting the noisemakers on the shells, then, just to make sure they worked, she loaded an  
extra into her gun through the breech, and aimed out of the open window, bracing herself for the  
massive recoil.  
Sara slowly squeezed the trigger, and was nearly knocked off her feet by the massive blast.  
The four and a half foot long muzzle blast left a long scorch mark up the wall as the gun jerked  
upwards, but the slug went flying out the window, and instead of the usual whistling THOOMP of  
a normal shot, it was making horrible howls, groans, whistles, and other sundry noises that could best  
be described as the legions of hell howling in agony.  
As an instant result, she saw every light go on in the immediate vicinity, and heard about ten  
car alarms start howling as well. "My god. I think it's brown pants time for most anyone who heard  
that thing. Ow. My ears are killing me! Well, that's what'll happen for a while on Wednesday. I hope  
the people won't mind too much." Sara ejected the empty cartridge, revealing that the brass casing  
was heavily scorched and blackened from the incredible heat produced by the powder charge that had  
been fired off.  
She then gathered several empty magazines for her gun, and carefully loaded one moaner into  
the first slot before randomly filling in the remaining four slots with either High-Ex or AP slugs. Soon,  
the twenty magazines were loaded, and Sara slapped one into her gun, chambering a round before  
flicking on the safety. She then reached under the back of her shirt, removed her knife, and cleaned  
the blade with a weak acid solution. She did the same with her sword ten minutes later, taking  
immense care not to get nicked on the razor-sharp edge.  
After the weapon cleaning was finished, Sara went into her basement room, and instead of  
grabbing her usual mix of cards, she collected sixty Chem-Ex cards as well as fifteen smokers. Sara  
put the collection of explosives into the belt pouch, which was sitting beside the table in the basement.  
She finally collected her cape, which had been collecting dust since her first run-in with M-17.  
She brought up both items, and left the pouch sitting on the small chair where she had been  
sitting for three hours as she had modified her ammunition and cleaned her weapons. Sara then  
looked at herself in the mirror, grinned, and put on the gold and ruby pendant which controlled her  
armour. Sara activated the armour after closing her drapes, so nobody could look inside as she  
checked out all the modes.  
The most dormant mode, the belt, changed into a scale leotard as Sara dictated the actions  
of her almost unique suit. She then turned it into its peacetime mode, making her entire body except  
for her face immune to up to 20mm weapons fire. She switched to combat, allowing the armour to  
cover her face, leaving only her eyes clear and exposed. Then, she tried out the remaining five modes.  
The weapons extruded from her right and left wrists, and Sara checked out the workings of the  
twenty-foot whip and three-foot spike.  
Ironically, she recognised both weapons as what had been used to kill the airport controllers  
yesterday, then checked out her high-defence mode. The armour rippled, making both weapons  
retract into her wrists before it thickened across her chest, head, and thighs. The extreme defence  
could block 2-inch slugs without problem, but inhibited her mobility and jumping distance.  
Finally, Sara checked out her chameleonic mode, which had the primary drawback of trying  
to fry her synapses at a greatly accelerated rate. When the armour revealed to her that it had produced  
an almost-identical copy of her wall's colour, Sara grinned and told her armour to shut down through  
the sub-vocal microphone. As her armour reverted to its belt form, Sara rummaged through her night-  
table and pulled out a brace for her right wrist with three small crystals set into the heavy material.  
Finally, with her AT gun sitting on her table, the sword leaning beside it, her dagger leaning  
against the mirror, and the pouch of explosives and smokescreens sitting on the chair, Sara lay down  
in bed, used a remote to turn off her lights, and fell asleep. However, she spent a restless night,  
tossing and turning before waking up at Six in the morning, bathed in sweat and wild-eyed. 


	17. Terror and Death Reign

Angel Park, 12:27 AM   
  
"Report Ivonava."  
"Yes sir. There's been no action in the area pertaining to the subject since she left to her day  
job with the Doctor this morning. When she got back, at approximately 1600, she disappeared for  
several hours, and someone wearing a cape and black hat simply jumped onto the roof of her house  
from the lawn without any assistance.  
"I didn't believe it at the time, but the subject's accomplice left in the same style, giving me  
a clear view of what the subject was doing. I have the entire three hours on tape including her  
weapons test at 23:21."  
"Weapons test? What did she use?" The commander leaned in to look at the small video  
screen hooked up to the recording system, and put on a pair of headphones to listen in to the resultant  
sounds. He watched the screen as Sara appeared at the window, lifted a large weapon, and fired a  
single shot, which produced a muzzle flash large enough to compete with the streetlights for  
brightness, and launched a hideous noisemaker that set the commander's teeth on edge.  
"Now that's a page from the history books. It looks like she's using a modified version of a  
German Nebelwerfer, commonly nicknamed the 'Moaning Minnie'."  
"Sir, weren't the Nebelwerfers ten-inch mortars that weighed almost two hundred pounds  
apiece?"  
"Damn. You're right McDonald. She can't have one of those monsters, but what does she  
have?" The commander frowned, but parcelled out the order engagements for the rest of the day.  
First, all the people on observation duty got rotated to a random site, so the observer who had  
watched the school yesterday got to watch the subject's house today.  
Everyone else had standing orders to dial down the gauss pistols further by the addition, and  
despite some grumbling about the pistols being weaker than some conventional weapons now, the  
orders were carried out. Then the team dispersed to their tasks with the commander helping out  
where necessary.  
  
Sara's House, 5:54 AM   
  
Sara woke up, bathed in a cold sweat. The only thing that came from her throat was a  
strangled gasp, but she soon calmed down. Her heart, which had imitated a deranged pinball by  
hammering wildly at the inside of her chest, went back to its normal pace of fifty bpm. Sara mentally  
retrieved the dream that had awakened her, and soon began to shudder uncontrollably as the strange  
dream reappeared inside her mind.  
Running around inside her head were a few images that were actually comforting, mainly of  
her grandparents and the good times they had, but the images soon changed to quick flashes of all  
the people she had killed, directly or indirectly. The first few were indistinct, but the next grouping  
was clear and very disgusting in the detail focussing on their wounds, many of which were caused by  
high-caliber weapons.  
The third set of images were the ones that set several tears crawling down Sara's face, as she  
saw the pale faces of all the children from the orphanage, her grandparents, and a young child, barely  
old enough to crawl. Sara's shoulders shook, tears spilling down her face as she mentally viewed  
every contour of the one jewel in her life, taken brutally at the tender age of eight months.  
Several minutes later, Sara had calmed down, and she got up. She looked at the disarray of  
her room, and sighed slightly as she removed her dirty shirt and pants, which were tossed into a  
wicker basket near where the safe reposed behind the Lesbian Gardener. She changed into a loose  
T-shirt and casual jeans, which, depending on the airspeed of the area either hid her figure or  
enhanced it, making every member of the male gender run the risk of lightheadedness and massive  
nosebleeds.  
She called up the school at Six-Thirty, and said that she couldn't come in today or tomorrow.  
She then had breakfast, easily devouring a bowl of Corn Flakes with a glass of orange juice and some  
toast. After her meal and the subsequent washing of the used dishes, Sara went into the back room  
with the washer and dryer, where she collected a small cardboard box with two photo albums in it.  
She went into her living room, and opened the first album to the oldest pictures, which were  
those of Sara at Ten, with her grandparents. All three were sitting around a small kitchen table,  
making a cake that read 'Happy Birthday Mom!' in red icing. The second picture was of Sara and her  
grandfather sitting on a wooden dock, apparently fishing for the denizens of the pond that had been  
about fifty yards from the old house that had eventually turned into an orphanage.  
Sara closed the book quickly, remembering every other picture inside the large tome. She  
opened the second one, and the first picture was of her, about six years younger, wearing a hospital  
gown and holding a tiny baby. The Sara in the picture hadn't been mutilated by grenade shrapnel, and  
was wearing a simple golden ring on her right hand. She was also grinning from ear to ear, despite  
being covered in sweat and looking like she had pulled an all-nighter.  
Sara removed the picture from the clips that held it in the book, and flipped the glossy photo  
over so she could read the fine print on the back. The writing was simple, but said more than anything  
else could. 'Selina Del Naryen-Valentine, with our newest member, Sebena Rosa-Jean. January 15,  
1996.' Sara looked at the writing, and didn't notice the tears that pattered onto the pressed fibre  
backing of the picture.  
*I'm so sorry Sebena. I tried everything, but I just couldn't help.* Sara remembered  
everything that had happened on the fateful week, almost six years ago. She had just gotten home  
from her job, and saw that her house had been broken into. She stormed in, mentally summoning all  
her skills at Karate to make sure that the jewel of her life was still alright. Instead, she collected a very  
large lump to the back of her head from an unknown assailant, several hours of unconsciousness, and  
a ransom note.  
The note had asked for several million dollars, with the addendum that if the sum was not  
supplied by a neutral party, Sara's daughter would be returned in thumb-sized pieces instead of one  
piece. Sara convinced her spouse to use some counterfeit money that the police had collected in a  
sting operation several weeks ago, and one of her spouse's friends handed over the money. However,  
the kidnappers had already killed Sebena.  
When the money had been handed over, the kidnapper's representative handed over a small  
bundle: Sebena's headless body. The autopsy said that not only had Sebena's body been horribly  
beaten, but she had been sexually violated by her abductors. At the time, only one person in the  
country would do something like that, and Sara went on vendetta for the first time in her life.  
She spent several weeks planning what she would do, and when her spouse had been killed  
by a punk trying to avoid a traffic ticket, she had free reign to do what she wanted after the funerals.  
Eventually, with the assistance of one gun, fifteen knives, and some special equipment, Sara got her  
hands on the person who had killed her daughter. He was found several days later, skinned, genitals  
cut off and stuffed into his mouth, and with knives inserted alphabetically into his vital organs.  
Sara flashed back to reality, and put the photo down. She turned the page in the album, and  
looked at the picture of two headstones beside each other. The smaller one simply said 'Sebena Rosa-  
Jean Valentine. B. Jan. 15, 1996 D. Sept. 10, 1996.' The large stone on the left side also had some  
writing on it, and it said 'James Duran Valentine. B. Aug. 20, 1970 D. Oct. 15, 1996.'  
Sara closed the album, put it, with its twin, back into the cardboard box, which was then  
replaced above the dryer. She went back into her bedroom, and checked out all her equipment twice  
just to make sure that nothing was going to break when she used it. Sara finally realized that she  
needed to get some more wires to finish her ensemble. She picked up her cellular phone, too lazy, or  
too cautious to use the hardwired phone to make her planned call.  
Sara dialled the number, and glad that it was past eight, she also tapped in the extension for  
Dr. Zack's classroom. The number went through quickly, and she got an answer in only three rings.  
"Hello?"  
"Hey Tony. I was looking through my stuff and noticed that I'm running low on some high-  
tensile wire. Do you know where I could root some out?"  
"Actually, I'm selling synthetic spider webbing at twelve dollars a metre. How many metres  
would you like, and at what time?"  
"Hold on a sec. First, synthetic webbing? Second, what's its tensile strength? And third,  
because I need it ASAP, do you have any lying around your house?"  
"Yes, the webbing is synthetic. I produced a chemical mix remotely based on the process to  
create nylon thread to create webbing that is approximately nine times stronger than tempered steel.  
Also, I have a thirty-metre spool sitting in my closet, and I'll accept payment whenever you can get  
around to it."  
"Hell, I'll leave some cash on that small table you have near your front door. That okay?"  
"All right. Be careful, and I'll see you about."  
"Tony, if you hear twenty repeats of what happened last night, go to the crater northeast of  
the city."  
"Twenty? Of that horrible howling? What do you have, a mortar?"  
"No. I fixed some noisemakers to some specialized slugs for my heavy gun. Just trust me on  
this. If you hear them, hightail it to the crater. Bring Cyb, Erin, and maybe Lucas as well. Oh yes,  
when that happens, call in a tip about the airport murders, stating that the killer will be there as well."  
"Alright, I'll do as you ask. I hope you get out of this in one piece."  
"So do I. Goodbye Tony." Sara disconnected her cellphone, turning off the power to the small  
machine. She then walked over to Tony's house, let the camera hidden in his doorframe identify her  
from its stored database, and activated the thumbprint scanner where a doorbell would normally be.  
After going through the security measures to get inside, Sara collected the spool of pale white thread,  
and left three hundred dollars on the small table beside the door.  
She then left Dr. Zack's house, letting the security system go back to its dormant lockdown  
of the entire house. Sara also noted, with some amusement, that the signs saying 'keep off the grass'  
had been altered with a postscript: 'The hard water is fairly painful', which was pretty low on the  
scale of good taste.  
Sara noticed something near the shoulder of the angel statue, but didn't decide to investigate.  
That decision had minimal impact on the rest of the day, but proved to have a great impact as time  
went by. Sara had a very uneventful day for the rest of the morning and afternoon, despite the fact  
that she spent most of that time with her arms up to their elbows in engine oil and grease as she took  
apart and rebuilt her motorbike's engine.  
  
North of Angel Park, 2:30 PM   
  
M-17 and Jess looked around the slightly rundown tenement building whose top floor they  
had appropriated, and the two simultaneously curled their lips at the resounding array of stenches that  
seemed to have produced a solid wall around the brownstone. The two held their mutual breath as  
they walked into the building, carrying their gun cases.  
The building superintendent noticed the two young women, and after spit-shining his hair to  
try and look less like a pregnant toad, he walked up to them with an overly officious manner literally  
oozing from his pores. "Well, who might you be?"  
"Some people who want to be left alone." Jess shot back, barely keeping her temper under  
control as she smelled something approximating rotten eggs being fried in rancid grease waft around  
the medium-sized room.  
"Fine, fine. I'll just give you the key to the room you want, and let you have your fun." M-17  
snarled at the super's leer, and cracked her knuckles one by one.  
"Okay, I got the fucking point! Here's your key." The super handed over the small metal key,  
connected to a plastic tag that smelled like it had been in the obese man's back pocket all month. The  
two climbed up the stairs, not trusting the elevator even if their lives depended on it, and being forced  
to avoid dog turds, garbage bags, and other examples of vileness, both were quite ready to just go  
on a killing spree through the entire building and get rid of the producers of such toxic substances.  
Instead, the two got into the room, which overlooked the park, and simply knocked out two  
windows, sending shards of glass raining into the street eight floors below, before setting up their  
heavy weapons. Then, after 17 made a very unpleasant discovery, the disgruntled teen went down  
to the super's office, forced him to go into their room, and made him clean the bathroom at  
knifepoint.  
Then, the two settled down for a day of watching for the thorn that had wreaked havoc in the  
area for the last few months.  
  
Sara's house, 8:00 PM   
  
By the time Eight in the evening had rolled around, Sara was looking more like a grease-  
covered dwarf instead of a fairly reputable teacher and semi-retired bounty hunter. At that point, she  
simply hid in the bathtub for about two hours, which slowly changed from clear water to a murky  
grey, covered with an oily sheen. After Sara had drained the tub twice to remove the excess oil and  
grease, she deemed herself to be human again, and knew she was about to shaft her adversaries by  
taking the fight to them.  
She went into her room, pulled on a tanktop and a pair of boxers, and started to strap on her  
weapons belts. Her knife went on first, strapped to her right calf in a way that could allow her to pull  
it on the run. The strap that acted as a holster for her AT gun went on her left leg in the same manner,  
allowing the heavy gun to slap freely against her leg as she finished putting on the card pouch and  
ammunition belt.  
Sara finally activated her armour, setting it to peacetime mode so she could move her head  
freely when putting her other equipment on. She put the small brace on her right wrist, and when her  
armour's scales covered everything except the three gems, all three blinked to life, revealing that the  
colours were green, red and black. Sara dredged up her memories about the three gems, and  
grimaced.  
*Yep, the green one is my brainwave feedback scanner. When that one starts to turn yellow,  
I'd better shut this stuff down for a few minutes. The red one is a gauge for remaining power in the  
suit, and it's currently saying that everything is at full power. I'm not surprised at that. This thing  
seems to feed off of my kinetic energy. Finally, the black one is what I'm worried about. When this  
thing starts blinking, my suit's being jammed somehow, and I'm screwed.*  
Sara finally slung her sword over her shoulder, allowing the long blade to shift diagonally for  
some mobility. After the sword was settled, Sara then put on her armour's cape, allowing the 25 foot  
long material to settle loosely around her body like a wrapper. She turned off the lights in her house,  
opened her bedroom window, and climbed out onto her porch.  
Sara jumped into the park, deliberately keeping low, but trying to keep away from the pools  
of light cast by the occasional car and street lamp. Sara told her armour to shift to fully active,  
covering her face with the defensive scales. She neared the statue in the centre of the park and heard  
a noise above her when she landed in the hollow created by the angel's lower arm.  
Sara looked up, saw a glint of metal above her as something shifted slightly, and decided to  
piss off the spec-ops team by taking out one of their own. Moving very slowly, trying to keep from  
making noise, Sara pulled out her heavy gun and flipped off the safety. She then gathered her  
strength, crouched for a second, and jumped far into the air, creating a blur in front of the surprised  
trooper.  
She tracked her target as he looked up, and as her ascension began to slow down, she opened  
fire. The first three shots from the bolt-action gun missed completely, sending the three AP slugs to  
burrow into the angel's shoulder like maggots into dead flesh, sending stone chips flying. The fourth  
slug, a Chem-Ex shell, slammed into the trooper's chest as he was aiming his own weapon at her. The  
shell was stopped by the thickened armour on his chest, but exploded on impact, sending him flying  
backwards over the angel's shoulder.  
The last shell, one of the moaning minnies, howled like a banshee, the inhuman wail rising and  
falling until the modified slug slammed into the top of the trooper's left shoulder, messily amputating  
his arm before burrowing into his chest cavity and turning his heart into a blood-flavoured slurpee.  
The trooper's corpse continued on its death dive, soon landing near the left heel of the angel with a  
hideous crunch, signifying that the trooper's spine had compressed itself by about ten inches by  
moving some excess vertebrae into the poor man's skull, thoroughly scrambling his brains.  
Sara landed lightly where the trooper had stood, and used her right hand to massage her left  
arm. *Ouch. I'm not surprised about the recoil, but I'm surprised that I managed to fire this thing so  
quickly. How'd I manage to fire five shots from a bolt-action gun in just under seven seconds? Even  
with a two-in-five hit ratio? I think someone up there likes me.* She ejected the empty cartridge from  
her gun, then pulled out and threw away the now-useless magazine. Sara reloaded her gun, put it  
back in its loop, and examined the equipment that had survived the quick onslaught.  
She noticed a radio that had just turned on, and picked up the handset. "This is Angel's nest  
to Dirtpile, subject deceased."  
"Who the hell? Wait a second. Selina? It's been a while. How's your husband and daughter?"  
"You fucking bastard. You were there at the funerals Vincent. Now, tell me this: why are you  
here, especially when you know that I'm only going back in a pine box, and even then, it'll probably  
be the size of a matchbox." Vincent chuckled.  
"Not quite my dear. Have you forgotten all the good times we had together? I'm going to  
make sure you remember right before I splatter you all over the landscape. My friends here are  
definitely gonna help as well, especially with the four or five serial rapists that have been very  
interested in your dossier."  
"You amoral little motherfucker. When I find you, not only are you gonna have your balls cut  
off, but I'll make sure you're gonna be singing soprano all the way to the company HQ in New  
York." Sara heard Vincent's sharp intake of breath, and chuckled, mocking him. "What? Surprised  
that I know where HQ is? Or surprised that I didn't walk in there four years ago and slice up the CEO  
for giggles?"  
"Actually, I'd have loved it if you had killed that ossified blowhard. He's more of a pain in  
my ass that the prisoners I was stuck with for a few years."  
"Your own fault for stealing my TV when I was 15. I'll see you soon, molester of  
hippopotami..." Sara killed the radio before Vincent could reply, then kicked every contraption from  
the angel's shoulder, waiting to hear the satisfying crunches of the machines hitting the raised  
concrete pedestal and smashing into unusable circuit boards and metal frames.  
Instead of waiting for the typical quick response form the rest of the spec-ops troopers, Sara  
jumped north, soon landing heavily on a decaying eight-story tenement. She stumbled slightly on  
landing, swearing under her breath as she noticed that she had twisted her ankle from her landing on  
the angel's shoulder. Also, the area where she was standing was sagging dangerously, forcing her to  
limp around the rooftop for a few precious minutes as her leg recovered from the jolts of pain.  
As she watched, Sara noticed several dark forms landing on the angel's shoulders, and she  
knew that a few more were on the ground, and had probably had found the horribly mangled corpse  
of their comrade. Sara waited for two more minutes, then dropped flat to avoid the expected IR and  
NV sweep around the area. However, she didn't expect a volley of machine gun fire from the window  
right below her, and nearly vaulted over the low wall into the shooter's lap as a result.  
Sara cautiously looked over to where the firing was coming from, and when the volley  
suddenly cut out, she first knew that she was shafted because her position had been compromised,  
and decided to take a bit of revenge on the person who gave her away. As a result, while the gun was  
silent, Sara vaulted over the ledge, keeping one hand firmly latched on the crumbling cement and used  
her momentum to smash through what remained of the window, landing feet-first on the gunner inside  
the room.  
Sara looked down at the person she had just dented the floor with, and cursed loudly for a  
second. "YOU! I thought you died!"  
"Nope, so eat this." M-17 smiled, despite the difficulty she was having breathing, and wrapped  
both of her hands around Sara's right wrist. 17 twisted Sara's wrist around, and giggled madly as she  
felt and heard some tendons and ligaments separate themselves from the bones, many of which were  
subsequently crushed or shattered by the torsion.  
Sara screamed as the pain lanced up her arm and spine, exploding in her mind like a block of  
C4. 17 continued to hang onto Sara's wrist, applying greater pressure to the wounded limb, but  
stopped when Sara managed to pull her knife free from her boot sheath and pressed the keen edge  
against 17's flat midriff. "Let. Go. Now." Sara would have gladly slashed the deranged teen's stomach  
open and let her bleed to death from the internal trauma, but Jess had her own gun pointed at Sara's  
right temple from just under ten feet away.  
"Okay, I'll let go, and just for fun, I'll give you five minutes to get out of here before I come  
after you. My friend will also help out, just to double your trouble." 17 released Sara's shattered  
wrist, but Jess kept her own rifle aimed at the side of Sara's head.  
"You two are small fry. I'll be shooting you later." Sara stood up, keeping her knife pointed  
at 17's chest, before jumping out of the window, landing on the next building over for a few seconds  
before disappearing into the night, which was now sporadically lit by gunfire to the north and west  
sides.  
M-17 waited with Jess before following her nemesis, whistling 'Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work  
we go.' aggravating her friend. "Hey 17, what's with the happiness all of sudden?"  
"Well, our enemy is now wounded, and we have some backup in the area."  
"Backup?" Jess raised an eyebrow, then was jolted around by 17's assist to the next roof.  
"Yeah. All the gunfire going off at once has been caused by several other technos and types  
that I intimidated into helping. Each group has about twenty lumps with them, and the police should  
be responding about... now." As 17 finished speaking, the volume of gunfire doubled, with sporadic  
explosions thrown in as well.  
The two paused, then heard what they were listening for. A piercing howl, which faded into  
a bestial whine before creating several groans and squeals set their teeth on edge, but the volume of  
firepower being thrown about suddenly paused before redoubling itself, giving the two girls ample  
time to find several large shell casings on the next few rooftops.  
They followed the longest trail of empty shells and discarded ammunition magazines, catching  
glimpses of their quarry, but more often hearing the unnerving howls that seemed to herald a  
temporary cessation of the citywide conflict. 


	18. The Shadow of Death Watches...

Business District, 2:37 AM   
  
Sara swore again, dropping into an alleyway to try and get a breather as she dropped the  
empty magazine from her gun. She had gone through six magazines, but had confirmed only a second  
kill. Most of the other ammunition had gone as suppression fire to keep the spec-ops team's collective  
heads down, but Sara had also wasted ten shells splattering a group of greenskins that had been firing  
at several police cars with machine guns.  
As she landed in the alleyway, the impact jolted her right wrist, making her involuntarily cry  
out in pain as the shattered bones ground their ways into several nerve endings. *Well, I'm definitely  
gonna go into hiding for a few hours, especially because my armour is getting to the point that if I  
keep it active for any longer, my mind's gonna suffer a major meltdown.*  
Sara looked around for a likely hiding place, and found it in the form of a recently condemned  
building nearby. She remained on the ground for several minutes, looking warily around her in every  
direction before she jumped up to an open window. Sara slipped into the building, and soon realized  
why it was condemned. Half of the old building was missing, apparently crushed by something the  
size of a medium-length plane.  
Sara shrugged, carefully clambered into the basement, rigging the only access into the dank  
chamber with a short length of the spider webbing that she had wrapped around her left arm. Not only  
did she rig the line to be as tight as possible, but she also balanced five of her explosive cards on the  
line, so if something larger than a rat disturbed the pale cord, all the cards would explode, most likely  
seriously injuring whomever hit the simple trap.  
After she finished her rigging, Sara shut down her armour and hid herself in a heap of wood  
and cardboard debris as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness from the pain shooting up and down  
her right arm in sporadic waves.  
  
Several Rooftops Southwest, 3:02 AM   
  
"Hold it. She's gone." The commander looked at the person who was holding onto the  
expensive prototype of an EM scanner, and frowned as the remainder of his team surrounded him.  
"That means what to me? Your hunk of junk could've been broken by that last howler she  
shot at you, and she took McDonald's head off with one of those spikes she's been sniping at us with  
for the last several hours." The commander looked at the readout on the machine, swore slightly, and  
punched the flimsy metal. The machine, not designed to take such abuse, broke and spilled its metallic  
guts across the soft tar roof.  
"Fuck the machine, we're going to resort to our eyes. Now, her armour needs to be shut  
down in just under five minutes unless our friend wants to become a vegetable. I don't think she'll  
go for that course, so she's probably holed up somewhere where nobody will find her for a while.  
"I'm betting that she's in a building that can be considered wasted, and will probably stay  
there for a little while." Just as the commander finished speaking, the echoes of a rifle shot rebounded  
down the artificial canyons on either side of the squat building, and a whistling smack was instantly  
followed by a volley of swearing from Ivanova.  
"Who was the bloody mother-fucking, father-raping product of incest that shot me?" Ivanova  
had a sewer for a mouth, and it showed for several seconds before another shot, closer, rang out. The  
second shot hit another member of the team, and he swore as the bullet smacked into the armour  
covering his stomach.  
"Bellinger, Tsier. Find that sniper and splatter the sucker all over the place. You have  
permission to use your explosives."  
"Yes sir! We're gonna give that person a ride he will definitely regret." The two men, laden  
down with several phosphorous grenades and blocks of C4, moved south to where the only plausible  
sniper's roost was. The two split apart to surround the building, and they both heard the crack of the  
sniper rifle again as they saw the muzzle flare come from a window near the top of the concrete clock  
tower.  
Tsier moved first, throwing in his five blocks of C4 into the sniper's roost. Just as he let go  
of the tower, a bullet from the sniper slammed into his chest. His armour stopped the bullet, but not  
until the heavy slug had punched a fair way into his body. Tsier collapsed onto the nearest roof, and  
knew he was seriously injured as his armour reformed, evicting the misshapen lump of metal that had  
caused so much damage.  
Bellinger, seeing his comrade collapse, muttered something and flipped two switches.  
  
Inside the Clock Tower, Same Time   
  
Jess smiled as she fired another slug at the person she had shot in the chest from just under  
fifteen feet away. 17 was behind her, having just tossed the five blocks of C4 out the windows on the  
west side of the small room. Jess heard a rumbling boom, then the tower shifted. "What the hell?"  
Jess raised her head from the rifle's scope, but was surprised when the floor underneath her collapsed  
and the top of the tower tilted enough to crash into the street, trailing papers, clockwork parts, and  
other miscellaneous pieces.  
M-17 had also dropped down two floors when the floor she had been standing on fractured  
under the strain, and coughing up dust and some blood, she started to search for Jess. "Jess? Where  
are you?" 17 saw something move weakly nearby, and started to clear away the debris from around  
her friend. When she finally exposed Jess' chest and head, 17 just stared at her friend, overwhelmed  
by a crushing emotion she had expected to feel only a few times.  
Jess was barely conscious, sustenance dribbling freely from the corners of her mouth, and  
gasping for air. Just to the left of Jess' breastbone, covered in the techno's glowing blood, was a  
jagged piece of re-bar protruding from her shirt. "Jess?" 17's voice had dropped to a whisper, and,  
in shock, she could only hold her dying friend's hand as Jess breathed her last, hastened by the metal  
spike put through her heart.  
Just before her body dissolved in the characteristic fashion of Fixed Ideas and technos, Jess  
whispered something to her friend. "Sorry..." 17's face was bathed in green light as Jess disappeared,  
and something in 17's mind, which had been growing into a stable platform, tilted suddenly, dropping  
her sanity into the inestimable chasm of madness.  
She started to giggle, then pulled both of Jess' pistols from the empty clothing. Still giggling,  
17 walked over to an intact window frame and looked down at the two killers of her friend. She  
broke out into a wild cackle, then jumped through the window and onto the standing trooper. 17 sat  
down on the shocked person, and instead of shooting him, she started to pummel him with the pistol  
barrels, relishing the sounds and feelings of her victim's bones breaking underneath her constant flurry  
of strong blows.  
The man's armour suddenly shut down, and 17 leaned towards the man's horribly beaten face  
as she continued to pummel him with the now-destroyed guns. She licked her lips as blood spattered  
over her face, dripping off the end of her nose as she methodically pounded her victim's skull into a  
gooey sludge, scattering fragments of bone and brain in a small circle around her.  
She then turned to the second man, who appeared to be unconscious. However, instead of  
leaving him alone, she sat on his thighs, and prodded at the bloody hole in his chest. Bored of just  
poking him, she then bit him in the neck, gnawing on the jugular vein until it severed, filling her  
mouth with the coppery, thick liquid.  
17 continued to chew on the person's throat, blood and saliva dribbling out of her mouth,  
making her look like a mix between a vampire and a zombie. Not only did she kill him slowly, but as  
the man's body cooled, she proceeded to chew her way through the corpse's neck, only stopping  
when she exposed the vertebrae in the back of his neck.  
She went back into the tower, giggling madly until she got to the floor where Jess' clothes  
lay. When there, she seemed to retrieve some of her sanity, and sat down beside the glowing glass  
and metal vial that was all that remained of her best friend. Inside the shattered remains of the  
building, surrounded by clouds of cement dust, scattered bullets, and bloody footprints, M-17, once  
known as Maggie, wept openly at the loss of her friend. Outside, lying beside the cold body of Tsier,  
was a small metal badge that simply said 'Det. Valentine, OPP'.  
  
Condemned Building, 3:37 AM   
  
Sara remained hidden under her debris-based sanctuary, but her mind was in turmoil as she  
rested in a state bordering on unconsciousness. Inside her mind, she was replaying all the events that  
had eventually led to her current predicament, beginning with her infection with the virus that still  
coursed through her bloodstream.  
She remembered the extensive surgeries that allowed her to retain normal mobility, the drug  
regimes that helped her with the crippling agony during her recuperation, and the eventual calling in  
of her debt which sent her down the path to hell. She had trained in a hidden facility near Ottawa for  
almost two years, got married to an old friend, and grieved for several more years when her family   
was brutally destroyed.  
Sara had been sent on several missions afterwards, most of them distasteful to anyone except   
psychopaths. She had been forced to carry out several assassinations, including one where she had  
to kill someone right in front of his son. That one still gave her nightmares, where she constantly  
visualized the boy's face splattered in his father's blood. She eventually broke away from the  
company, after the abortion of the slaving operation in Southern Africa.  
She groaned in agony as she accidentally put pressure on her right wrist, and shifted around   
to relieve the pain. Her mind soon settled back into her fevered memories, but they had shifted to  
quick blurs of her travels around the world's hotspots, winning a name for herself as someone not to  
fuck with. She had eventually travelled to Japan and China, learned the basic aspects of Pentjak Silat,  
and had acquired her sword several weeks before leaving again.  
The memories shifted once more, leaving Sara's mind balancing at the edge of an abyss where  
she would not tread. Inside the abyss was the events of the April day that had killed her grandparents,  
twenty young boys and girls, and which had started her current vendetta against the almost-mindless  
creations of Von Reichter.  
She then woke up, her pupils dilating to a size that made her irises disappear. Sara sensed  
something moving around, then heard a repeat of what had awakened her. The wooden boards above  
her head creaked slowly, allowing dust to sift through the cracks in the moisture-warped wood. Sara  
looked up, letting her eyes finish adjusting to the darkness as she watched a thickening of the  
darkness overhead slowly move towards the stairs that not only would bring the person to the  
basement where she hid, but also into her trap on the seventh step.  
Just as she finished waking up, the creaking footsteps stopped, but started up again, now  
moving down the stairs at a fairly slow pace. Sara reactivated her armour, and quietly unsheathed her  
sword, which began to glow in anticipation of being fed. The footsteps quit being stealthy as the glow  
enhanced itself, bathing the room in lurid red light milliseconds before the person stepped on the  
webbing, dislodging and detonating all five cards. The explosion was focussed up and down the  
stairwell, and the blast sent the person who detonated it into the upper wall of the stairwell.  
Sara waited a second after the explosion died to let some of the larger chunks of rubble land,  
then charged up the smoking and damaged staircase, sword already up and ready. The cloud of  
smoky dust was still shrouding the person who had tripped the explosive, and Sara swung her sword  
in a short arc that literally disarmed the person. The return sweep with the long blade slammed into  
his chest, liberally scattering most of his sternum, ribcage, and lungs down into a bloody cascade over  
the steps.  
The man collapsed like a ton of deadweight onto Sara, stunning her as the corpse's  
momentum smacked her into the smouldering wall before being cut in half by the still-extended blade  
of her sword. The upper half of the body continued on its tumble down the stairs, eventually resting  
on the bottom step in a puddle of blood, with the rubbery intestines uncoiled and spread over the  
bottom half of the stairs. The legs and part of the corpse's lower guts remained at the top of the  
stairs, covering Sara's armour in blood and other bodily fluids.  
She swore quietly for a second, then sheathed her now-sated weapon. Instead of going up to  
the roof where she had originally planned to leave, Sara unhooked her large gun, stepped backwards  
a bit, and aimed at the damaged wall before opening fire. The first slug was an AP spike, which  
slammed through the thin drywall and exited the building without slowing down appreciably. Sara  
ejected the casing, then chambered the next slug in the magazine.  
The second slug hit two inches to the left of where the first one had passed through, and the  
heavy explosive punched through the first layer of drywall before exploding and blowing out a fifteen-  
foot wide chunk of the wall. Sara crouched through the smaller inner hole, then dropped into the  
garbage and rubble filled alleyway. She ran to the end of the alley, and paused for a second until she  
heard the angry shouts from the building as someone took a header down the stairs into the puddle  
of blood and guts.  
Sara jacked in the third round from the magazine and aimed the gun at the hole in the wall.  
*Come on, the Widow's waiting. Now, please, come into my web...* Sara had braced the gun along  
her right forearm, despite the arcs of pain that crawled along it from her wrist, and kept the heavy gun  
aimed directly at the hole in the wall where she had exited. She saw something move inside the  
building, and squeezed the trigger, sending off another payload of pain to her adversaries.  
The bullet missed however, embedding itself in the wall only a few inches from the person.  
In response, the person cut loose with a volley from an autoshotgun, several dozen impacts across  
Sara's chest and arms telling her that the person was using buckshot instead of the potentially deadlier  
rifled slugs. Sara reloaded quickly, noting that she had only one shot after this one was fired off. Sara  
responded to the shotgun volley, but missed again, this time blasting another large hole through the  
wall as her adversary dodged the explosive.  
Sara retreated when someone took a potshot at her with a gauss pistol, which blew a hole in  
the pavement four feet wide and threw shrapnel all over the place. Instead of standing and fighting,  
she dodged around the nearest corner, fired her moaner at the now-sagging building, and ran down  
the second side street into a still-crowded boulevard. She swore again as she skidded around a group  
of drunken frat boys, and was involuntarily rewarded with some cover as a car stopped right in front  
of her.  
Sara jumped over the hood of the car, and when she landed on the other side, she was already  
reloading her gun and leaving another magazine behind as evidence of her passing through. She heard  
police sirens converging on the area, and sporadic gunfire could still be heard reverberating around  
the city. Several of the more sober people had run off, but most of the people were smashed enough  
to try and crowd around Sara like she was a succubus from their dreams. Naturally, Sara disagreed  
with that, and was forced to clear a path through the drunkards with a few well-placed shoves,  
generously assisted by her armour's enhanced strength.  
Desperation added its own not-so subtle strength to her movements as she heard the gunfire  
intensify for a few seconds behind her. *Dammit! Time to leave.* Sara decided to throw caution to  
the wind, and jumped almost straight up, where she then could use her cape as a parachute and glider.  
The result was impressive, as volleys of gunfire quickly trained themselves upon her until she landed  
on a nearby rooftop. Thankfully, nobody had used the Gauss pistols, otherwise she'd have gathered  
several holes through her chest and head.  
Even then, Sara groaned in pain as her head felt like a bass drum upon which a psychotic  
drummer was kicking around for giggles. Sara skirted the heavily populated area to the north, and  
headed towards the concrete clock tower that she had fixed as a landmark several hours ago. Sara  
jumped quickly to where she thought the tower had been, but was confused by the seven-story jagged  
stump where a ten-story tower had once been. She noticed two lumps nearby, and went over there  
to see what they were.  
Sara noticed that both bodies had been horribly mutilated, with one having its head turned into  
a sticky puddle of blood and brain matter scattered in a circle. The second corpse, which had  
apparently bled out and was covered in blood, had its head nearly severed from its body, and the  
moonlight shone off the slick wetness of recently exposed bone. Sara moved closer to the bodies,  
then felt a dull pressure against the back of her head.  
"You sent these after me, didn't you?" Sara recognised the voice almost immediately, but kept  
quiet, not wanting to set the person off. "Stand up. You know that this gun will probably go right  
through your skull, don't you? Better learn how to pray."  
"Hold it. Why me? Because I tormented that shrivelled little midget for the last few months?"  
"No. Because your two friends here killed my friend. Now, I'm going to kill you."  
"Fine, get it over with. See if I care. However, you forgot something." As Sara spoke to the  
person holding her at gunpoint, her armour's whip wrapped around the person's legs, which were  
quickly pulled forwards, giving Sara the opportunity to drop backwards onto the person, stunning  
her. Sara rolled onto her knees, and looked at the person who had attacked her.  
"Having fun kiddo?' Sara wrenched the pistol out of the girl's hand, and noticed that the  
barrel was bent sideways, rendering the gun useless. Sara silently thanked her armour's enhanced  
strength as she picked up the stunned girl with her good hand. "Fuck you, bitch." The girl snarled  
angrily, trying to twist free from Sara's grip on her shirtfront.  
"No. Now, what's this?" Sara kept the girl restrained with her armour's whip, and knelt down  
by the body lying in the large pool of blood. Sara used her knee to shove the corpse over onto its left  
side, and picked up a bloody piece of metal which she recognised immediately. The missing badge  
from her husband's police uniform sat in her hand, stained by the blood of his killer. Sara slowly  
squeezed the polished metal, tears leaking down her face as she remembered the funeral. Reality  
intruded however, when a gunshot ripped into the gravel-covered roof, plowing a ten-foot long  
furrow that ended when it had smacked its way through a concrete barrier near an emergency power  
generator.  
Sara swore, dropped the girl onto the roof, and said one thing before taking her own advice.  
"Run away, and don't look back." Sara had already fired two more shots with her gun at the  
advancing spec-ops team, but both slugs went high, one of which went far enough to blow out an old  
water tower, drenching the crowds that seemed to gather whenever gunfire went on for more that  
two minutes.  
Sara's cape took several large-caliber bullets, but instead of stopping the slugs, the cape was  
liberally torn up. One slug managed to assist Sara in her headlong dash by slamming into the small  
of her back, imparting enough momentum to send her over the edge of a building. The fall was short  
and painless, but the landing in a dumpster did nothing to improve Sara's mood, especially as the  
dumpster had smacked the side of her head on the way down.  
She lay in the large metal container, head ringing like a gong, and tried to organize her  
thoughts. However, she couldn't even think straight, and the lid of the dumpster, teetering slowly  
above her, soon crashed down, sealing Sara in total darkness. Just before she lost consciousness, Sara  
told her armour to shut down to the leotard, thereby saving her mind from the risk of being fried.  
  
Near the Tower, 5:39 AM   
  
"This is not good. We've lost McDonald, Bellinger, Tsier, Michaels and Davidson. All we  
have so far is a trail of destruction that roams through almost a third of the city, several handfuls of  
empty 30mm cartridges, and this bloody lump in front of us." The commander motioned his left hand  
to where a young girl stood, held between the iron-like grips of two of his remaining troopers. The  
girl was shorter than him by a good five inches, was wearing a metal bracer on her right arm, and  
appeared to have bathed in someone's blood.  
"You." The girl started as the commander walked up to her, then giggled quietly, chewing  
on one of her fingertips. "What the hell happened to you?"  
"My friend..." The girl giggled again, and looked wildly about her, as if she was going to try  
and jump off the roof. "Your friend? Can you tell me what your friend looked like?"  
"Tall, dark hair. Had a gun. Nearly shot me. Good enough?"  
The commander frowned, then looked at the two troopers holding the girl. "Let her go."  
"Sir? Do you think that's a smart idea?"  
"No, but I can't spare any one of you to guard her, and judging by the looks of her, she's  
pretty far gone anyhow. She'd be dead weight, slowing us down. Just leave her." The commander  
turned to the rest of the squad, and saw that a lot of them were exhausted. "Look, I'll leave a scanner  
to see if our little friend shows up. Now, all of you, go back to base and get some rest."  
The spec-ops team scattered as the sky began to brighten in the east. The commander waited  
for a few minutes, and walked over to where the crazy girl was sitting. "Look, I'm sorry if anything  
happened to you from what we're doing, but maybe this'll make up for it." He then pulled out several  
large-denomination bills from a small pouch, and pressed them into the girl's hand. With that, he  
jumped to the warehouse where his base was.  
Behind him, M-17 stood up, looking at the mass of money that had been given to her. Instead  
of pocketing it, she folded several bills into paper airplanes and tossed them over the edge of the roof,  
and she then ate the few remaining bills. She then chuckled, relatively calm, and went into the remains  
of the clock tower to collect Jess' guns, clothes, and vial. Behind her, the first rays of sunlight broke  
over the horizon, bathing the city in bright red and golden light. 


	19. Finale

Meridiana High School, 8:27 AM   
  
Adrian walked into the office, looking like he hadn't slept for most of the last two days. He  
pulled a hand-written note out of his pants pocket, and placed the short message in Dr. Zack's  
message box before collecting his own messages about the school's current activities. Adrian waited  
for a few minutes, and was rewarded with the front doors slamming open to reveal four people trying  
to get inside at the same time.  
The vanguard of the small group was Lucas, looking about as harried as one could get  
without having ripped clothing. Right behind him was Lori, Erin, and Hazel, and the entire group was  
covered in dust. "Okay, what in the world happened to you four?"  
"Hello Adrian. We were up at about three in the morning, and nearly got killed in a gunfight."  
Adrian sighed, wondering where Lucas got his store of good luck from.  
"Well, you're still alive, so that's a pretty good thing. So anyone we know in the fight?" Erin  
passed her left hand over her face, trying to keep a neutral expression but was caught by Adrian, who  
raised an eyebrow in a silent question. Erin slashed her free hand over her throat, which is the  
universal gesture to keep quiet.  
Lucas didn't see the gesture behind his back, and Lori and Hazel had disappeared somewhere,  
so he started speaking again. "Well, it was pretty dark, and I only caught a glimpse of the person, but  
she was definitely fast moving, agile, and loaded for bear."  
"Really? How do you figure that?"  
"Why do you think we're covered in dust? She blew out a wall right above us with one shot  
from a gun!" Lucas was actually excited instead of scared, but he quieted down as some other of the  
early students started to look at him oddly. Adrian sighed again, than heard the lump of lard  
commonly known as Mr. Tilman walk into the school. The first thing the obese principal did was look  
at the clock, then he noticed the two dust-covered people in the middle of the hallway.  
"What the hell happened to you two? Were you watching the mayhem between the police and  
those ugly freaks last night?"  
"Actually, we were trying to track down the source of those horrible howls that were  
scattered all over the city last night." Lucas shuddered as he spoke, remembering the almost-demonic  
groaning scream that had awakened him at two in the morning.  
"Really. I'm surprised that you're still alive, Lucas. Look, I'm pretty busy, but if you see our  
perpetually missing teacher today, give her my regards." With that, Tilman walked into the office,  
leaving all three people looking at each other quizzically.  
"Okay, he's definitely getting weirder as time goes by. Personally, I'm wondering when he's  
going to retire." Lucas scratched at his scalp, sending a cascade of dust onto the much shorter Erin.  
"Hey caveman, keep your dandruff to yourself. Why don't you go and get your messages  
from the office?" Erin growled at Lucas, and he took her suggestion, taking his leave of the vehement  
teen and Adrian. Adrian looked at Erin, shrugged, and gestured for her to precede him to the English   
classroom.  
"So, what was the bit you wanted to tell me?" Adrian started almost immediately after he had  
closed the door and Erin sat on a desk before she revealed what she had wanted to say.  
"Well, I recognised the armour the person was wearing, as well as the gun. It's Sara." Erin  
fidgeted as she spoke, but Adrian's reaction was nothing short of surprising. He actually dropped the  
copy of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" he was convincing the class to read, and his jaw followed the  
thick tome to his desk.  
"Could you please repeat that, Erin? I just don't believe it."  
"The person who's the focal point of all the heavy gunfights in the city since yesterday, and  
the source of those evil little noisemakers is our friend, Sara D'Arnise." Erin ground her teeth  
together as she thought of all the possible things happening to her older friend, and imagined herself  
flaying Jose with a scourge to try and feel better.  
Adrian digested Erin's statement, and swore under his breath for a few seconds. "Well, we  
can't do anything about it for a while yet. Hopefully, Sara will be around for a long time after this.  
After all, she's probably tougher than I am."  
Erin snickered at Adrian's tacit reference to his nightlife, then nodded and left the classroom  
in time for the first bell to go off.  
  
Near the Tower, 9:43 AM   
  
Sara woke up, feeling slightly better, despite being in a dumpster, and surrounded by  
darkness. She felt her forehead where she had hit the dumpster, and whistled softly when she touched  
the slightly sticky lump at her hairline. *Okay, I'm never gonna touch vodka again. Now, how am I  
gonna get out of this?*  
Sara used her left hand to push at the dumpster's lid, and wasn't surprised to feel the heavy  
steel lid stay put. She activated her armour, allowing the material to enhance her strength before she  
hauled off and punched the lid of the dumpster off of the metal basin like it was made of tissue paper.  
Sara got out of the dumpster, wincing as the bones in her right wrist announced their state of being  
with a sharp spine of pain that shot up to her shoulder before fading to a dull throb.  
She swore softly as she landed on the uneven concrete beside the dumpster, and swore again,  
loudly, when the dumpster's lid crashed down to the earth less than ten feet away from her. *Okay,  
maybe I should've restrained myself a bit.* Sara checked how much ammo she had used, and mentally  
tallied up what she had done. *Okay, I've used almost eight magazines, and five chem-ex cards. Now,  
I've tallied two, maybe three, kills and that bitch teen slaughtered the other two on the rooftop. I'll  
have to give her a card.*  
Sara jumped to the rooftop she had taken a fall from, and, after landing, she looked around  
for anything that could reveal where the spec-ops team had disappeared to. Soon, instead of finding  
anything, Sara heard a whistling roar, and she noticed a plane flying overhead with an engine belching  
smoke. *Well, this day has already spiralled down the shitter. Time to leave.* Sara jumped East,  
towards the school, and was quickly spotted by children and adults alike, mainly because she decided  
that bouncing off of rooftops was too risky.  
Sara had dropped to ground level, right in the middle of a farmer's market to boot. When she  
landed, not only had she smashed a portable stall into scattered early fruits and splinters, but had  
given the proprietor a heart attack because of the great speed she was moving at. As Sara moved  
towards the school, occasionally jumping onto smaller buildings to clear large obstacles such as  
crowds, everyone that saw her could only catch a glimpse of a cloak-wearing form, moving like the  
legions of hell were after her.  
  
Shipping Warehouse #27, 10:00 AM   
  
"We have a confirmed contact. She's moving East towards the High School. Let's go." The  
commander swore at the addition as he took command from the dumbassed lackey, and armed his  
gauss pistol for what he felt would be the last day of hunting. Just as the remnants of his squad got  
to open air, the commander heard a piercing groaning howl, which rose and fell in pitch, setting  
everyone's teeth on edge. "Well, the entire fucking city now has a fix on our friend. Let's go." With  
that, the commander led his squad into the city again, heading to the High School.  
  
Meridiana High School, 10:01 AM   
  
Adrian was just starting on the second class of the morning, when he heard something that  
could only be mistaken for a chainsaw mating with a horse. Just after the horrible noise ended, he then  
heard something that didn't surprise him. Outside of the classroom, all the teachers had appeared,  
wondering what had happened. Adrian took it to the next level, and decided to go to the roof of the  
school to find out what was up there.  
He excused himself from the classroom, walked calmly up the stairs, and heard some dull  
thumps from the roof. Adrian started running to the rooftop staircase, and charged up the steps faster  
than a normal person could. Uncharacteristically, Adrian body-checked the door to the roof, and  
stopped in his tracks at the deadly tableau being played out on the roof.  
Six people were standing in a ragged line, all pointing ugly-looking guns at a seventh person,  
who was holding an extra-large gun that was smoking faintly. Three of the people in the line turned  
to face Adrian, and the seventh person took the opportunity presented at having the firepower arrayed  
at her halved. She dropped down to one knee, firing a shell from the big gun at the rooftop in front  
of the three people that were still pointing their guns at her.  
The shell smacked into the tar-paper rooftop and exploded, sending fragments of the rooftop  
flying towards the three people. Adrian noticed the three people bringing their guns to bear on him,  
and dropped backwards down the staircase, earning some bruises, but saving himself from being  
perforated by several gauss slugs, which punched holes the size of basketballs through the far wall.  
A second volley of shots rang out, punctuated by the deeper, louder, and longer roar of the heavy  
gun, cut short by a shrill scream of pain.  
Adrian, normally having nerves of ice, felt icy tendrils of fear crawl down the back of his neck,  
and he ran down the stairs to Dr. Zack's Physics classroom. Opening the door, Adrian simply grabbed  
Dr. Zack by his arm, and pulled the older man out of the classroom. "Adrian! What in the name of  
god?!?"  
"Quiet Tony, we're going to the roof." Adrian pulled Dr. Zack to the upper part of the  
stairwell, and with silence greeting them, they walked onto the roof. On the roof was a dead body,  
looking like it's chest had been crushed by a medium-sized wrecking ball. Dr. Zack walked over to  
the corpse, turned the body onto its back, and whistled faintly as he probed at the gaping chest wound  
that had been covered by the person's armour. "Amazing. This wound seems to be cauterised by a  
blast of heat."  
"Really? How did you figure that with the armour covering most if the wound?" Adrian  
looked again, and noticed that the armour had retracted from the wound, apparently for easy access  
from a medic. Just as Adrian began to lean towards the corpse, a loud thump behind both people  
caused them to turn around in alarm. There, leaning against the wall, was the person who had fired  
the heavy gun.  
The person's armour retracted from her mouth, revealing a thin rivulet of blood trickling from  
the right side of her jaw. "Boo. Well, this piece of ordnance is useless. Hello Tony."  
"I don't believe that we've been introduced..."  
"Sorry. I'm known as the Knife. Also, you've known me for almost seven months in my  
normal identity."  
"Normal identity?" Adrian and Dr. Zack echoed the same statement simultaneously, and the  
woman whispered something to answer their question.  
"Well, I've been here for a while, and am known for tormenting Lucas." Sara smiled grimly,  
making her look like death warmed over. Sara's skin was almost translucent, and she was holding her  
left hand over one of her ribs.  
"Sara? What in the name of god?"  
"I'm the Knife. I once was Selina Del Naryen, Biologist, Bounty Hunter, and Widow." Sara  
removed her armour's cape for a few seconds, keeping herself partially in shadows to keep herself  
hidden from the spec-ops team. Dr. Zack walked over to her, and noticed that Sara's left hand was  
covering a long gouge that was bleeding freely.  
"Sara, what happened to you?"  
"A gauss slug happened. It punched through my armour, skipped off one of my ribs, and  
jammed the action of my gun, rendering it useless. Look, just get Lucas, Erin, Reba, and Cyb. Go to  
the crater north of here, and I'll probably see you there."  
"Sara..." Dr. Zack's statement was drowned out by a series of loud pops, which resolved  
themselves as gunshots. Sara took the opportunity to drop her gun, strip her ammo belt of the  
remaining magazines, and put her cape back on before she jumped away from the school, heading  
north, towards where the Isle of Doom had exploded three years ago.  
  
The Crater, 5:48 PM   
  
Sara landed at the edge of the mile-wide crater, staggering towards a cluster of bushes as she  
felt the wound in her side start bleeding again. She swore silently as she was again leaving a blood  
trail for her opponents to follow. Sara's armour was now scarred and pitted, despite its ability to  
repair itself fairly quickly. Her cape had been shot at enough times to cut it down to just over ten feet  
long, and what remained was so heavily perforated that it looked like a flexible sieve instead of a  
cape.  
For herself, Sara was wounded in several places, including her right wrist and wounded side.  
In addition to those injuries, Sara had also taken a bullet in her right thigh, which left an extremely  
large bruise that hampered her mobility. Her knife, held loosely in her right hand, was covered in  
blood, much of it from the trooper that she had decapitated. The remaining troopers were still after  
her, like a pack of jackals harassing a wolf.  
Simultaneously, Erin, Lucas, and Reba were charging through the forest as fast as possible,  
only minutes away from the crater. Dr. Zack and CyberSix had taken a different path, but were just  
as far away as the others. Back at the crater, Sara stanched her wound by keeping her hand pressed  
against the bloody gash. Even then, Sara was so heavily pumped up on adrenaline that she didn't feel  
anything.  
She slowly drew her sword from over her shoulder, and stood up to continue her retreat. The  
result was a volley of shotgun fire, quickly followed by a louder volley of swearing. Sara jumped  
across the crater as fast as possible, inviting several more volleys of gunfire at her. Soon, the remnants  
of the spec-ops team appeared, and jumped after Sara, allowing their armour to shift into forms that  
could maximise their abilities in close combat.  
Soon, Sara was standing with no escape in any direction. Behind her was a three-hundred foot  
long drop into the ocean, and on either side of her was the same, with the addition of jagged rocks  
along the way. *Well, Davey Crockett was in a better position. At least he was in a fort.* In front of  
her were the four remaining spec-ops troops, one of them being Vincent. "Well, looks like I'm gonna  
have to kick all your asses. Who's first?"  
Sara's answer was when two of the troops rushed her and she immediately lashed out with  
her sword, which, acting of its own accord, easily sliced off the male trooper's right arm, and  
continued to carve a chunk out of his right side. The man dropped like a sack of potatoes, and died  
soundlessly soon afterwards. However, Sara was hard pressed to continue with the extreme exertion,  
as more blood spilled from her injuries, slowing her down and making her weaker.  
The other person who had gotten into close combat with Sara was much luckier, avoiding the  
sword several times, and had managed to knock the knife from Sara's bad hand. Sara was tiring  
quickly, and when one of the two that had hung back pulled a gun, she couldn't dodge. The gauss  
slug punched into Sara's upper left arm, shattering the metal bone, and rendering her arm useless.  
Sara screamed in agony as the slug exited through the back of her arm, twisting her around before  
she dropped to her knees, still holding onto her sword.  
"Well, looks like the rabbit's been snared."  
"Come closer and I'll show you just how much I like you Vincent." Sara spat a glob of blood  
onto the grass in front of her, and glared at the person who had shot her. Vincent shrugged, then  
raised the gauss pistol again, aiming at her left kneecap. He fired twice, shattering Sara's left knee  
into shards of bone and metal, then did the same to her right knee.  
"Why...? I...only...wanted...to...live..in...peace. So...why?" Sara was gasping for air, but her  
right hand had snuck into her pouch of cards. Vincent hadn't noticed that his own group had also  
become surrounded, but the commander and the surviving trooper had noticed. "Well, mainly it's  
because you sold out on your obligation to do whatever the boss told you to do."  
"That's...a...load...of...shit. You're just vengeful." Sara's right hand had reappeared, holding  
almost twenty red cards. Vincent laughed, then lifted Sara up by her hair.  
"Well, It's been nice talking to you. By the way," Vincent leaned in towards Sara, and  
whispered his next words into her ear. "I killed James." Sara's eyes widened, then she slowly exhaled  
as Vincent placed the muzzle of his gauss pistol against her left eye.  
  
CyberSix had just finished knocking out one of the two troopers that were guarding the  
unique tableau of Sara's bleeding form being held up by a vicious-looking man. Time seemed to slow  
to a crawl as Sara's hand snapped upwards, and the man began to squeeze his gun's trigger. Six heard  
something, and it took her almost half a second to realize that it was her voice screaming.  
The gun fired, and Six could see the cloud of pink mist slowly expand behind Sara's head as  
it was pushed backwards. The next thing she saw was a large blast of heat and light as Sara's right  
hand relaxed, revealing the crushed mass of cards that detonated in a wave of explosions that  
obscured Sara's falling body, and engulfed her killer.  
Time accelerated again, and the explosion blew outwards, knocking Six to the ground, and  
causing her ears to ring. Six sat up, and on the scorched patch of ground where Sara had stood was  
only the person who had shot her. Six stood up quickly, having weathered the blast better than Reba  
or Erin had. She walked over to the scorched spot, and saw something lying on the ground where  
Sara had been.  
Six picked up the long knife, its hilt burned off, and gingerly handled the hot metal until it  
cooled down. "Why Sara? Why'd this have to happen?"  
Erin, Reba, and Lucas all walked to where Six stood, and looked down at the ocean. There,  
barely visible in the fading light, was a small red stain in the clear water. Dr. Zack finished tying up  
the two troopers after removing their weapons and other equipment, then walked to the small group  
surrounding Six.  
"She never wanted to go back. She'd have preferred death to capture."  
"I know Tony. I just wish we could've known each other a bit better." Six collapsed to her  
knees, still holding the knife, and looked out over the ocean which had swallowed her friend. The sun  
had set, bathing the group in darkness before they returned to the city, handing their two captives  
over to the police. Afterwards, the group separated, with an agreement to meet at Sara's house in  
two days. 


	20. Aftermath

Sara's House, Two days Later, 8:30 PM   
  
All of Sara's friends in Meridiana arrived at Sara's house within minutes of each other. Six  
and Lucas had arrived together, with Reba, Dr. Zack, and Erin arriving a few minutes later. They all  
stood outside of the dark house, and contemplated what had happened to Sara in their own ways.  
Soon, Six walked to the front door and picked up the door's spare key from where it had been taped  
to the eaves-trough. She then unlocked and opened the door, flipping on the foyer light for the ones  
who hadn't been gifted with amazing night vision.  
Soon, everyone had entered Sara's house, and Six pulled a wrapped package from the paper  
bag she had brought with her. She set it on the table in the living room, and watched as each of her  
friends did the same with items they had decided to bring. The four people that had gotten letters  
placed the unopened envelopes onto the table, one at each corner. Erin broke the unnerving silence  
before it became too tangible, and rushed into the statement she had mentally rehearsed for the last  
two days.  
"Well, today we pay the last respects for someone who could be considered a friend, a  
colleague, and a prankster. Sara D'Arnise, who I considered a friend and confidant, was killed two  
days ago, in front of all of us. I only wish that I could rewind time and get there in time to help her."  
Erin finished speaking, then unwrapped the object she had brought, revealing a twelve-pack  
of Dragon's Breath beer, Sara's drink of choice. "To your spirit Sara, wherever it may rest." Erin left  
the small case underneath the table, then sat down in one of the plush chairs near the couch. Dr. Zack  
stood up then, but paused and cleared his throat before he started speaking.  
"Well, I knew Sara as a competent, if unconventional, teacher, and as someone who could  
cause anyone to laugh or cry in just under ten words. I saw her make her entire class crack up in just  
under a minute with a presentation, and I saw her cause half the teachers break down in tears during  
the first Aikido class she taught." Dr. Zack smiled at the often-humourous memories of Sara's acerbic  
wit cutting apart some dimwit who didn't know when to quit.  
"To be honest, she knew that she was dying anyhow, but decided to go out in a bang instead  
of a whimper. I just wanted to try and help out a bit more."  
"Tony, we all have regrets about what we could've done, but we can't change what happened.  
Now, I was less than ten feet from them when Sara detonated those cards, and I could've saved her  
if I was moving at Mach Two." Erin spoke up, interrupting the entire group from self-recrimination.  
"Okay. Well, it appears that I may as well give this to you, wherever you are." Dr. Zack  
unwrapped his gift, revealing a computer disk and a roll of papers. "This is all you needed to get back  
to a normal routine in life. Looks like it's not really necessary now, but hey, who knows?" He sat  
back down, then glanced at the shortest member of the group, who was sitting in the middle of the  
couch, with her legs barely touching the floor.  
"Well, I didn't know Sara that well, but from the way everything has been going along, it  
appears that none of us knew her that well. Well, when she was either bored or hospitalized for her  
monthly transfusion, Sara used to help out the virology department, and managed to find at least two  
bugs that were easily wiped out by immunization. I think she'd like this." Reba pulled out her  
package, and opened it, revealing a bundle of hand-made thank-you cards that had been sent to the  
hospital after a particularly nasty virus had been defeated due to the efforts of the entire hospital.  
Lucas stood up next, leaving CyberSix as the last speaker. "I knew Sara for the longest period  
of time, as I had to suffer from her jokes during a fair chunk of university. To be honest, she never  
really opened up, even when smashed, and never spoke about her life before she had turned nineteen.  
I had lost touch with her until she showed up in the school six months ago, and she really upended  
life there. Heck, I'll never forget what she did to my car for chuckles. To be honest, Sara could be  
considered a thorn in my ass, but she managed to make teaching the students entertaining for most  
of the year." Lucas grinned to himself, then revealed his gift. "She always wanted to expand her  
knowledge of biology, but loved pranks."  
Lucas unwrapped the object, revealing a can-of-worms, and a new edition of 'biology for  
dummies'. "I hope you have fun, wherever you are." Finally, it was Six's turn to speak, and everyone  
looked at her as she stood up. "I-I really don't have much to say about Sara, especially as she kept  
enough secrets to fill a skyscraper with. She saved my life directly at least once, and kept our little  
friend on a very short leash. As far as I know, Sara destroyed at least one plot against us, and  
managed to keep a larger lid on the Fixed Ideas than I could.  
"I'll probably have nightmares about what I saw for a long time, but no matter what, Sara will  
always live on within our hearts." Six unwrapped her gift, revealing the scorched metal of Sara's  
knife. "You may as well have this back any time." Six stood up after placing Sara's knife in the middle  
of the table, and wiped away some tears that had gathered themselves in her eyes.  
"To be honest, I never expected to see another one of my friends die, especially when I  
couldn't help her. Now, I read the letter she had given me, and part of it said that her will was in the  
upstairs safe, waiting for us. I think we should take a look at it, just to see what Sara wanted us to  
do with her stuff." Dr. Zack nodded, Reba smiled slightly, and Erin's eyebrows raised themselves into  
her hairline.  
"Well, to be honest, I think she'd want us to find out what she wanted to do, but I think that  
the one who knew Sara the best should get the document. That would be you, Six." Lucas smiled at  
his significant other, and chuckled quickly as she blushed slightly.  
"It looks like I've been voted to get it, so I now get to nominate a second person to help out.  
Erin, you're it. Let's go upstairs." Erin stood up, and followed Six upstairs, where the two removed  
the painting, unlocked the safe with the key hidden under the night-table, and collected the two folded  
letters there, leaving Sara's magnums, her grandparent's journals, and an unmarked book in the heavy  
metal container.  
The two went back downstairs, and after entering the living room, they revealed the two  
letters. "This one seems to be a pre-written obituary for the newspaper, so you get it Lucas. Hand  
it over to the editor of El Independente when you get the chance. This second one seems to be the  
will, and I think you should look at it, Tony."  
Dr. Zack nodded, then broke the seal on the envelope. He then unfolded the long letter, and  
muttered to himself as he silently read the entire will, unknowingly keeping the rest of the small group  
in suspense. He finally smiled and put the will down onto the table. "Well, apparently we all get  
something.  
"The will stipulates what we're getting, and I'll start at the beginning. 'If you're reading this,  
I'm dead, and here's how my belongings are going to be distributed. First, for my good friend and  
crony, CyberSix, aka. Cyb. You're getting the laptop with all the games, half a million dollars, and  
the house, co-signed between you and Lucas. All you two have to do is sign on the dotted lines and  
you get the house. By the way, I left some green presents somewhere in the house, and the search  
will help you feel at home.'  
"Now, that's what I call overkill. You get a house as well as half a million dollars, most likely  
in Canadian funds. Anyhow, let's continue. 'For Lucas Amato, commonly known as the gorilla, you  
get the few gag gifts left in the house. Most of them are stashed in the front closet, but a few are in  
the back room. For Erin Cheng, friend and comrade in crime, you get the twin magnums in the safe,  
as well as all the ammunition. Just to add insult to injury, you also get a quarter-million dollars to  
spend as you see fit. My opinion is for a T3 internet line. Also, you get the deck of death cards that  
I tormented the biology class with.'  
"That's interesting. Looks like Sara really liked you Erin."  
"No surprise. We sympathised with each other's conditions, and exchanged jokes with  
alarming regularity."  
"Really. Let's see, what else is here... ah! That's new. 'To Doctor Reba Pearce, you get all  
the medical research on the diseases I've encountered, as well as a donation to the hospital in the  
form of a million dollars. Also, you get my unending gratitude and respect for tolerating me enough  
to let me help out in the hospital, even though I was more often in there for stitches than for some  
blood.  
'Finally, to Doctor Anthony Zacharias, you get the thirty-millimetre gun, with every remaining  
slug in the house. All the ammunition is in the safe upstairs. You also get my grandparent's journals,  
primarily for safekeeping, but you can read them if you wish. Also, in the basement is a small room  
with three stacks of cards. All of them are yours. Be careful, as they are contact detonated, which  
could have dangerous consequences if you decide to poke at the red ones.  
'By the way, there is a safety deposit box in the main branch of the Meridiana Bank. Access  
the box with the following password, and send the files inside to every respectable newspaper in the  
world. The evidence in that box will put a massive dent in Gen-Core's operations, and may force the  
company to shut down for an indefinite period of time. Thanks for reading this, and have a good life  
without me. Oh, yeah. The last million and a quarter dollars left will be donated to the school in order  
to upgrade the classrooms and such.' Wow. Sara's definitely gonna wreak havoc, even when she's  
not around to watch."  
Six spoke up then, looking like she was about to break down. "She's been utterly selfless. I  
only hope that she could finally rest. From what I've seen, Sara had less than a few hours of sleep per  
day, and she always seemed to get by without any problems."  
"True. Sara was always kind and courteous, even when she added a stripe down the middle  
of my car." Lucas also looked like he was going to cry, but swallowed convulsively before he spoke  
again. "I really think we should talk about this somewhere else, but we can leave everything here for  
a few more days. Let's go and get some coffee and try to figure out why she did this."  
There was a general round of assent, despite the way Lucas managed to mangle the way he  
tried to explain his feelings.  
  
Undisclosed Location, North America. 9:25 PM   
  
"Sir?" An unfamiliar face popped its head through the partially open door, staring at the  
withered CEO.  
"What the hell do you want?" The CEO growled at the new lackey, muttering something  
about another putt being ruined.  
"About the Meridiana Mission, sir? We have a development."  
"Really." A raised eyebrow said it all.  
"Both objectives have failed. Dr. Anthony Zacharias made a police statement yesterday about  
several unknown assailants that had attacked his place, and the subject was not retrieved."  
"What about the team?"  
"There's only two survivors, and both are in police custody."  
"Shit. Leave now before I get angry, and decide to embed my golf club in your spine."  
"Yes sir." The door was quickly shut, leaving the CEO alone with his golf clubs and his  
thoughts.  
  
CyberSix's House, 11:32 PM   
  
Six sat at the small desk where she had normally marked homework until the incident two  
days ago. Sitting on the scarred and scuffed wood was two items, both of which were gifts from Sara.  
The first one was the metal brooch that had been given to her after Sara had been tossed into the  
hospital when she had been shot. The metal had also been scuffed, wearing away at the image of the  
two older people holding the hands of a young child.  
The second item was much less distinctive, being the open letter that Sara had given her  
almost four days ago. She wiped her eyes, which were rimmed with redness, and picked up the letter  
for the seventh time in three times as many minutes. *Why? We could've helped, and you embraced  
the offer with open arms. Those bastards from that company will never get out of jail, but they still  
killed you. I just want you back. Hell, I'd even enjoy your corny jokes or warped sense of humour.*  
Six began to read the letter, having decided to get it over with.  
  
'Dear CyberSix,   
'If you're reading this, then the inevitable has occurred, and I have either died of natural  
causes, or been killed by Gen-Core's bitch team.'  
Six chuckled as Sara's bad jokes shone through, even in her writing. *Now I know why the  
students liked her even more than they like Lucas.*  
'Anyhow, I have a few secrets to tell you. In actuality, I am, or was, Selina Del Naryen. To  
be honest, I haven't used that name since I was twenty-two, after my husband and daughter  
died. Two years later, I broke away from Gen-Core, and collected my knife at the same time.  
I went to Japan for several months afterwards, and learned about Silat while there. At the  
same time, I got my sword, which actually has several undocumented effects, which you  
don't want to know about.'  
*Oh really? I bet Kayla would've loved to have met you a few years ago. Maybe she would've  
liked you a few months ago anyhow, but she was too busy, and now it's too late.*  
'My family thinks that I'm dead because I haven't been talking to them since I was twenty,  
but if my body is recoverable, much less recognisable, I would like to be buried near my  
grandparents in the Fraser Valley in British Columbia.'  
*I'd like to go there, but I'm sorta stuck due to the risk of an officious little prog of a customs  
officer taking the sustenance supplies that I need to live, and that's not even counting on the fact that  
you're still off the face of the earth. As far as I know, you're two hundred feet underwater right  
now.*  
'I know you have your own secrets, but I should tell you that I know you're Adrian  
Seidelman.'  
*What?!? How did she figure that one out? It took Lucas almost a year, and that was with  
blatant hints to boot.*  
'I first had suspicions when I met you face to face in the Cafe, especially considering you  
didn't wince when that soccer player had an involuntary vasectomy. Also, you had an ardent  
love of literature, so an English teacher seemed to be a perfect guise to do what you liked  
as well as keep under the radar. By the way, never tilt your head back too far when drinking  
a glass of water. You really don't have an Adam's apple.'  
*Thank you for that observation. Still, I didn't know how to react to something that could  
only be considered cruel and unusual punishment. After all, you didn't even blink through all three  
replays. You could've been considered an ice queen at that time.*  
'No matter what, I'm sorry for not being around to put a smile on your face, much less  
torment you when you and Lucas eventually tie the knot. Maybe my ghost will show up every  
once in a while. Cheers and Farewell Six.  
'Forever. Sara.'  
Six wept openly for several minutes, then stood up, pulling on her gloves before she jumped  
out of the window of her small apartment, leaving the letter to flutter forlornly in the faint breeze,  
keeping the last two words exposed.  
  
El Independente Newspaper, Editor's Office, 6:30 AM   
  
Lucas stood in front of his editor's desk, pacing angrily as the simple-minded twit looked over  
Sara's handwritten obituary. "Look Lucas, I don't care where you got this from, but I've never heard  
of this Sara D'Arnise person, so she isn't worth spit, much less an eighth of the obituary page."  
Lucas' first impulse was to smash the editor's face through the wall, but he knew that his job  
would suffer greatly if he did so. In a very strained voice, Lucas tried to reason with the cigar-  
smoking moron. "Sir, you know me to be kind and fairly reputable with my research when I produce  
a story for this paper. Now, I knew this person from my university days, and what is said in this  
obituary is all true.  
"Also, the added information came from a very reputable source, and involves a lot of juicy  
stuff like illegal surgeries, assassinations, and all sorts of gooey bits about a mega-corporation."  
"Really?" The editor's piggy little eyes were beginning to light up, especially as he thought  
of the publicity of a world-wide scoop on something that seemed to be as nasty as Microsoft. "Look,  
let me go over this added information with legal, just to make sure that we won't have an unpleasant  
visit from their own legal department."  
"Fine, these are copies anyhow." Lucas handed over a small attache case full of close-typed   
text, weighing about twenty-five pounds. "Look, Just print that obit, otherwise you'll never get  
anything even approximating this again." With that, Lucas walked out of the stuffy office, leaving his  
editor sitting there, gaping in awe at Lucas' actions.  
  
Dr. Zack's House, 7:17 AM   
  
Dr. Zack rubbed his bloodshot eyes as he looked at the old clock ticking away the time. It  
took him almost a minute before he realized it was morning, telling him just how exhausted he was.  
*God, this is amazing. I can barely believe that Sara's grandparents wrote in three languages, but they  
easily interspersed French and German with English. It does produce an interesting cipher however.*  
He looked at the journal he was reading, and slowly placed the old tome onto the small table beside  
his easy chair.  
He then put a bookmark in between the neat cursive writing to keep his place constant, when  
a single line popped out at him. Translated to English, the line read: 'Today we got a new addition  
to our extended family. A young child, with a '6' tattooed on her left forearm. He is kind, courteous,  
and sweet, and helps out with the younger orphans. I am surprised by him more often than not,  
especially as he shows an ardent love of literature, including Shakespeare, despite being only ten or  
eleven years old.  
'he came from a South American country, but even our young granddaughter loves him like  
a sibling, which may not be much of a good thing, considering what her real brother did to her last  
year.' Dr. Zack looked at the passage, mentally translating the German, and using a dictionary to  
translate the French. He did that three times, and was forced to come to a conclusion that he would  
keep from Six for the rest of his life.  
*I am sorry Six, but apparently, Sara's grandparents were killed because they knew and  
sheltered you when you were younger. I swear, you will never know of this, especially as it would  
crush you.* Dr. Zack took the translation he had written down, placed it in his pipe's ashtray, and  
burned the small note, careful to keep the journal away from the open flame. He then sighed with  
exhaustion, closed the book, and went to call the school to arrange a substitute for the day.  
  
Approx. 200 Miles North of Meridiana, 1:30 AM   
  
The small cove was faintly lit by the semi-phosphorescent waves, but more light was being  
emitted by the moon, mostly hidden by wisps of clouds that slowly scudded across the night sky. The  
waves lapped slowly against a small form, which had three small counterpoints to the natural light  
on its right side.  
The first artificial light was a heavily faded amber, slowly turning red as the moon rose higher  
into the sky. The second light was dark, except for a faint glimmer of reddish-purple, but most of the  
source was in fragments. The third was slowly blinking, pulsing out a message with a dull blue glow  
that remained constant.  
The rest of the form was mostly hidden by shadow, but the one exposed arm was still holding  
onto the grip of a long, dark blade. As the moon began to set, the blade began to glow, faintly at first,  
but soon banishing the shadows in the cove with its lurid, meat-like pulse. By the time the moon had  
disappeared into the forest, the body had tottered to its very unsteady feet. The left arm remained  
limp, except for the hand that slowly dragged the sword behind itself as the body began to stagger  
into the forest.  
The legs moved stiffly, both knees apparently shattered into unrecognisable masses of bone  
and muscle. As the light revealed the person's face, any normal observer would have run for the hills  
in disgust, for the person's left eye was nothing but a gaping red hole that was large enough to insert  
a golf ball. The body disappeared into the forest as one final change occurred, which only affected  
the sword itself.  
The sword, once black with silver edges, had slowly shifted to a milder shade, eventually  
settling on a marbled ribbon of purple and dark green which slowly seemed to ripple like waves on  
a pond. If an observer could enter the mind of the strange vision, they would hear something that  
would surprise all but the insane: Exultant laughter.  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer/ Author's Notes:  
  
-Kayla owned by Nightflower  
  
-Erin Cheng / Stryk 12 owned by Syberkat  
  
-Hazel Smith owned by Surferchick, and thanks for all the opinions of my writing...  
  
-M-17 owned by Maggie Griffin, and I hope she doesn't kill me :)  
  
-Dr. Anthony Zacharias owned by Ptah Aegyptus. Thanks for all the beta readings.  
  
-Sara D'Arnise and Jess owned by me.  
  
-Everyone else was created and are owned by Carlos Megelia and Carlos Trillio, who we all owe a  
debt of thanks for creating such a unique and engaging character in the form of CyberSix. 


End file.
